The Russell Westbrook drama continues in La La Land. Apparently, there has been an increasing pressure on Frank Vogel from members of the Los Angeles Lakers organization to demote the athletic guard to a bench role amid his struggles with the team.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, however, Vogel has rejected the calls and insisted on starting him. That was the case once again on Saturday as the Lakers face the Golden State Warriors, with Westbrook included in the starting unit alongside LeBron James, Malik Monk, Austin Reaves and Stanley Johnson.
There has been an increasing push among many in the Los Angeles Lakers organization to demote nine-time All-Star guard Russell Westbrook from the starting lineup, but so far coach Frank Vogel has resisted bringing him off the bench, sources told ESPN.
Woj also noted the tense moments between Westbrook and Vogel over the different visions they have when it comes to the role of the former NBA MVP. It corroborates the earlier report of NBA insider Marc Stein, who noted that the 33-year-old scorer did not respond kindly to the approach of the Lakers' coaching staff to change his role–although it did not indicate whether that means putting Westbrook on the bench.
Jousting with reporters in press conferences is apparently not the only push-back from under fire Lakers guard Russell Westbrook. There have been no shortage of defiance, I'm told, when coaches and players have tried to broach changes or approach with the former MVP. For all the obvious complexities involved in trying to move Westbrook when he’s owed $47 million next season, one league source described the idea of bringing him back as impossible given the current tension.
This is certainly an interesting development, which could prove to be a major factor in the Lakers' playoff hopes. Truth be told, LA has no time to experiment with the situation they are in since the threat of missing the playoffs is right in front of them.
However, it can't also be denied that they have to change something since what they have been doing all season long is simply not working. This whole Lakers situation could very well be a case of making tweaks a little too late, which could be a big reason why there are some pushback to the idea of benching Russ.
Westbrook has been a non-factor in their last four games, which all resulted in losses. Not only has he failed to make even one triple out of 11 attempts in that stretch, but he has also been making just 37.7 percent of his shots despite almost 16 tries per outing.
There are only a few games left in the 2021-22 season, and before Saturday's game, the Lakers are barely hanging in the Play-In spots with the New Orleans Pelicans and Portland Trail Blazers right behind them.
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