In Jeanie Buss' recent interview, it is not what she said that made headlines. Rather, it is something that the Los Angeles Lakers owner did not talk about–on purpose or not–that is making rounds on social media.
Buss talked with GQ last week where she discussed the current state of the Lakers roster and the path they have to take to return to title contention. While she said the young players will have a key role, she emphasized that their stars and their availability will be the biggest factor for them.
Interestingly, in her response, she failed to even make one mention of Russell Westbrook.
Buss took note of LeBron James and Anthony Davis' presence, but she snubbed Russell Westbrook. What made it even more questionable was the fact that she did mention the return of Kendrick Nunn.
“We changed coaches, so that’s a new voice,” Buss said. “And we are continuing to, hopefully, stay injury-free. We want to see Anthony Davis stay on the floor and be healthy the whole season. And when you have Anthony and LeBron, there’s a lot of great things that can happen. But you have to have a supporting cast of players that can fill roles and also stay injury free. We have Kendrick Nunn coming back after missing last season, and a lot of young players that…I can name names, but until we see how they play there really isn’t…we have to give Darvin Ham all of the time and resources he needs to put the team together to see how they move forward.”
Naturally the absence of Russell Westbrook from Jeanie Buss' remarks sparked plenty of speculations. Many believe that it's a foreshadowing that LA is going to trade Russ real soon, which is nothing new but will still be shocking given the confusing stance of the team.
Lakers team owner @JeanieBuss doesn’t mention @russwest44 in the team’s upcoming plans… Will Westbrook leave the Lakers?
— Laureng_lakersfan (@laureng_lakers) August 29, 2022
Lakers owner accidentally confirms Russell Westbrook's departure
Sometimes, the things you don't say speak louder than what you say. Unfortunately, that may have been the case with Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss.
The Los Angeles Lakers keep looking for ways to improve… pic.twitter.com/845gqq8txi— Rastaman (@rastamanlive2) August 27, 2022
So Jeanie Buss isn't excited to watch Russell Westbrook play? How do you forget to mention someone you're about to pay $47 million dollars to?? Unless 🤔 https://t.co/64GyVfWQCj
— EP (@epark1016) August 24, 2022
Jeanie Buss may have legitimately forgotten that Russell Westbrook is still a Laker. https://t.co/qwnl5r7FjB
— OutKick (@Outkick) August 25, 2022
The Lakers also just traded for Patrick Beverley from the Utah Jazz–which came after Buss made her comments–which only fueled the speculations that Westbrook is heading to the exit door. After all, Beverley and Westbrook have a longstanding beef.
Nothing is certain yet as of the moment, but Lakers fans shouldn't be surprised if the Purple and Gold make a Westbrook trade in the next few days or weeks.
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