“I helped him prepare himself for his MVP season” - 2x All-Star says he’s on the same wavelength with Russell Westbrook as he was during his MVP season
LA Lakers superstar Russell Westbrook is coming off the worst campaign of his career as all the blame for the Lakers shortcomings were put on his shoulders, fair or not. The former league MVP is returning for another year with the Lakers.
On The VC Show, former NBA superstar Vince Carter interviewed Victor Oladipo, Westbrook's teammate from their time together with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Oladipo is currently working out with Westbrook this summer and spoke about how they are helping one another find their mojo again, especially mentally.
"Me and Russ go way back, you know what I'm saying, and we played together in 2015 when he won MVP. So, you know, he prepared me for the following year to had a year I have after I left OKC and, you know, I feel like I helped him prepare himself for his MVP season before he became MVP. Right now we on the same wavelength, and when I say that, I mean, you said it best, I mean, you have to sit down and talk to him to understand where he's at, but he's there," Oladipo said.
As aforementioned, Victor Oladipo and Russell Westbrook were teammates for the 2016-17 season when Westbrook was named MVP of the league. However, Oladipo was traded to the Indiana Pacers in the summer of 2017 for Paul George.
Significance of Russell Westbrook's upcoming season
Russell Westbrook is heading into a pivotal season of his career. The former league MVP was the subject of crude comments and jokes for much of last season. While he was not the only problem for the franchise, Westbrook was a massive headache.
Russell Westbrook career:
Made 53 game-tying/go-ahead FG in final min of 4th-qtr/OT, most in NBA since 2008-09 (made 2 Wednesday)
13-73 on potential game-tying/go-ahead 3-pt FG in final 24 seconds of 4th-qtr/OT (missed 1 Wednesday) https://t.co/yC18HD25kW
The LA Lakers superstar has a terrible history of playing with other superstars and achieving success. Thus far, Westbrook has played alongside Kevin Durant, James Harden, Paul George, Anthony Davis and LeBron James.
The flip side of the argument is that all of them, barring Anthony Davis, have had MVP caliber seasons with Westbrook as their teammate.
Russell Westbrook stats when playing without Lebron last season: 22/8/8 on 55% TS https://t.co/o6tUesY2Mq
Should Russell Westbrook have a similar campaign as last season, he can bid goodbye to a max extension in the summer of 2023 when he becomes a free agent. However, should he have an MVP-like season, even then the likelihood of Westbrook getting a max extension is slim to none. The likes of Khris Middleton, Kyrie Irving and Kristaps Porzingis are all free agents.
Either way, Russell Westbrook is fighting for his reputation and possibly a future in the league. Should he have a terrible campaign in the upcoming season, no team will want to take him on when he hits free agency in the summer of 2023.