Russell Westbrook's tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers came to an end with a trade to the Utah Jazz. But before Westbrook was traded, he and the Lakers were in the midst of a troublesome toxic relationship.

Westbrook's status with Los Angeles had become so bad, Los Angeles considered straight releasing him if no trade had materialized, via Sam Amick and Jovan Buha of The Athletic. The Lakers' and Westbrook's relationship had grown, “untenable,” and both sides agreed a split was necessary.

“Lakers coaches had grown frustrated with Westbrook's recent behavior, and he was known to be upset with being openly mentioned in trade discussions,” Amick and Buha wrote. “Both sides were ready to move on from an imperfect partnership.”

Westbrook's recent behavior included getting into a verbal altercation with head coach Darvin Ham during halftime of the Lakers' Feb. 7 loss to the Thunder. Westbrook slowly walked off the court after being substituted off, which angered Ham. That event built even more tension in the locker room of what was already a, “toxic,” environment, per Amick and Buha.

Russell Westbrook was eventually traded in a three-team deal that landed the Lakers D'Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley. During his two years in Los Angeles, Westbrook played 130 games for the Lakers. He averaged 17.4 points, 7.2 assists and 6.9 rebounds per game.

When he was acquired, Westbrook was expected to give the LA a spark next to James and Davis. But after that experiment turned toxic, Westbrook will now leave Los Angeles as the Lakers look to build towards the future.