Recently, reports have been surfacing about just how ugly things got between Russell Westbrook and LeBron James during their time as teammates with the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. The team missed the playoffs altogether in 2022 and ended up trading Westbrook before the deadline the following year.
The reporting has been done by The Ringer's Yaron Weitzman, and now, more information is coming out about some of Westbrook's grievances with James.
“I feel like this is an interview of trying to set me up to say something. I can tell that you guys are in the whole ‘Russell Westbrook category’ right now,” said James after a late Westbrook miscue cost the Lakers a game against the Portland Trail Blazers. “…You guys can write about Russ and all the things you want to try to talk about Russ, but I’m not up here to do that. I won’t do it. I’ve said it over and over. That’s not who I am.”
However, Weitzman painted a different story, reporting that “Westbrook wasn’t buying it. To him, this was just the latest example of LeBron saying one thing but doing another.”
“People are saying, ‘Let Russ be Russ,’” Westbrook had said previously, which some interpreted as a shot at James. “I think nobody understands what that means. I think people just say it.”
Westbrook also reportedly was growing tired of James' frequent blatant lying in the media, including claiming The Godfather as his favorite movie, pretending to read Malcolm X's autobiography, claiming he predicted that Kobe Bryant would score 81 points the day that he did, and more.
“Westbrook knew LeBron’s reputation. He’d seen all the examples of LeBron seemingly misrepresenting himself,” reported Weitzman.
A rough time for the Lakers
After the Lakers traded Westbrook in early 2023, they rebounded and went on a borderline miraculous run to the Western Conference Finals that year, but they've bowed out in the first round in the two seasons since.
Meanwhile, Westbrook has bounced around the league, most recently signing with the Sacramento Kings earlier this week.
Still, Lakers fans soon won't forget just how toxic the vibes were around the team during those two fateful seasons. Who the blame should be attributed to clearly remains a point of debate.
