Former Los Angeles Lakers point guard Patrick Beverley is not a fan of the way the team handled the Russell Westbrook fiasco throughout the last two seasons. Beverley was a member of the Lakers for the first half of last season, and he's addressing some issues he had with the blame that Westbrook received for the Lakers' previous struggles.

Beverley recently stopped by the Gil's Arena Show podcast with NBA legend Gilbert Arenas and spoke on the matter.

“All the beef about Russ, maybe none of that happens,” said Beverley. “It's ways that you have to operate your team without over-managing it, or over-coaching it. Sometimes you just have to put the dominoes out there.”

The Lakers traded for Russell Westbrook in the 2021 offseason. The move turned out to be a disaster for the franchise. Although Westbrook put up respectable individual numbers, he was unable to establish synergy with costars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and the Lakers failed to make even the play-in in 2022.

Things were going down a similar path last season before the Lakers finally unloaded Westbrook at the trade deadline and immediately surged in the standings. How much of Westbrook's struggles were his fault and how much were systematic is certainly up for debate, and Beverley appears to be taking the side of the latter.

However, what no one can deny is that the Lakers went from one of the worst teams in the NBA with Westbrook to a Western Conference Finalist without him, all in the same season.

To believe that's solely a coincidence might be a stretch.