After all the offseason talks about Russell Westbrook coming off the bench, the Los Angeles Lakers ended up starting the veteran guard alongside Patrick Beverley in their season opener against th Warriors. Naturally, it raised plenty of eyebrows around the NBA.

NBA Twitter particularly showed no mercy to the Lakers as plenty of fans and followers questioned the team's decision. It would have been fine had Darvin Ham and co. said it before, but all the signs pointed to Russ coming off the bench.

Ham did say recently that the door was open for Westbrook to start, but the general belief was that they were going to further experiment on him as the lead player off the bench.

Some fans also couldn't help but compare the Lakers' starting backcourt to that of the Warriors. After all, having Russell Westbrook and Patrick Beverley match up with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson just looks unfair … for LA that is.

Article Continues Below
Related News
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 ·
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) talks with a referee in the third quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves during game four of first round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Target Center.
Lakers’ LeBron James questions camera work in Game 4 vs. TimberwolvesRichard Pereira ·
Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner (33) walks downcourt during the third quarter against the New York Knicks during game three of the eastern conference finals for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
NBA rumors: Lakers, Warriors named ‘clear fits’ for ‘unlikely’ Pacers tradeZachary Weinberger ·

The Lakers' Westbrook experiment failed big time in 2021-22, which is why there were plenty of hopes that the team would trade the explosive guard and move on from him. While it looked like LA tried, they just can't seem to find the right deal.

Los Angeles and its front office probably wants to see if Ham can make things work with Westbrook. However, until they prove that they can win with Russ as their starting guard, the team will surely receive more flak for their decision.