The Los Angeles Lakers were down by one in the waning moments against the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday. Russell Westbrook snatched a rebound off a Joel Embiid miss and brought the ball up court.

Instead of calling a timeout that would have allowed the Sixers defense to get set, Lakers head coach Darvin Ham opted to let Westbrook cook. The dish he came up with in the final seconds wasn't exactly a crowd-pleaser:

The former MVP couldn't get off any sort of clean look and simply ran into a Sixers double team at the rim. The result had Lakers fans in disbelief.

The meme machine was flowing too with various clips clowning Russell Westbrook for fumbling what could've been a huge Lakers win in the final seconds.

Article Continues Below
Related Los Angeles Lakers News
Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick reacts to his team losing the lead to the Minnesota Timberwolves late in the fourth quarter during game four of first round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Target Center.
Lakers’ JJ Redick link up with Les Snead at Rams campMiguel La Torre ·
image thumbnail
Sources: Lakers split on trading core playersAnthony Irwin ·
Lakers' Rob Pelinka with a Lakers logo in the middle Mavs Center Daniel Gafford on one side, Nets center Nic Claxton on the other. Question marks around them.
Sources: ‘Extremely active’ Lakers looking to add multiple bigs on trade marketAnthony Irwin ·
Cleveland Cavaliers center Shaquille O'Neal (33) being defended by Chicago Bulls center Brad Miller (52) during the second quarter in game four of the first round of the 2010 NBA playoffs at the United Center.
Former Laker Shaq, Brad Miller recreate brawl photo 23 years laterZachary Howell ·
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) talks with his coach during a stoppage in play against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second quarter during game four of first round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Target Center.
Lakers rumors: LeBron James’ ‘likely’ $52.6 million contract decisionPreston Byers ·
Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) reacts in the first half against the San Antonio Spurs at the Crypto.com Arena.
Lakers guard Austin Reaves’ agent fires shot at fans’ trade proposalsJoey Mistretta ·

There were several more nuanced takes on the Lakers star, but it's clear that the prevailing thought is that Westbrook shouldn't be getting the ball with the game on the line.

Russell Westbrook was vocal after the game that he got fouled by Embiid, which he claims was the reason for his awkward-looking shot.

If you erase the final possession and look at the complete body of work, Westbrook had himself a solid performance off the Lakers bench. He finished with a triple-double of 20 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists which is usually a good sign for his team's bottom line on the scoreboard.

However, the mistakes he makes are just too loud to ignore and Sunday night's loss was just another example of that.