Kendrick Perkins says Lakers should stop humiliating Russell Westbrook and make a decision on him: "Russ looked not engaged, he looked miserable, at this point, don't just make Russ suffer"
All-Star guard Russell Westbrook played horribly last night as the lakers" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-is-sponsored="false">LA Lakers lost 103-97 to their rivals, the clippers" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-is-sponsored="false">LA Clippers, on Thursday. One of his former teammates, ESPN's Kendrick Perkins, believes that it's time for the team to move him, as they're further damaging Westbook's reputation.
Perkins didn't hold back on how they should handle Westbrook's fit with the team. Against the Clippers, the nine-time All-Star shot a ghastly 0-for-11, including 0-for-6 from the 3-point area. Westbrook only scored two points, although he managed to get five steals.
"If you can't trade Russell Westbrook right now ... then I believe you should send him home," Perkins said. "Russ looked not engaged. He looked miserable. And it's unfair to him at this moment. It's been bad since he arrived in LA. He hasn't been able to fit in at all.
"The noise is playing with his mentality and has been for the last year and a half. ... This relationship can't go up. It's going down. I saw when (coach) Darvin Ham took him out the game last night in the fourth quarter, his body language was saying it all on the bench."
Given the state of the Lakers, @KendrickPerkins thinks it's time for LA to go full stop on Russ.
"If you can't trade Russell Westbrook right now ... then I believe you should send him home." https://t.co/69JLXaOCN1
Westbrook isn't a terrible player; the Lakers just don't know how to utilize his skills.
"At this point, don't just make Russ suffer," Perkins said.
During the game, it was clear that the Lakers needed to re-tool their roster again. They lack good, reliable shooters. Against the Clippers, they were able to close the gap. However, their efforts to win weren't enough, resulting in their second loss of the season.
Darvin Ham's system seem to have revived Russell Westbrook's defensive identity
The attention-grabber of Thursday night's game was Russell Westbrook's horrible shooting efficiency. The defense of the Clippers clearly bothered Westbrook and resulted in a ton of missed open shots. Just like the strategy that the Golden State Warriors used in beating the Lakers 123-109 on Tuesday, the Clippers dared the former MVP to shoot the ball from downtown.
Surely, this strategy worked well for the Clippers. Even as the Lakers tried to mount a comeback, it wasn't sufficient as the entire squad struggled to make long-distance shots.
One aspect that was overlooked in Westbrook's performance was his defensive awareness against the Clippers. The main point that people keep highlighting is that he only scored two points and didn't make a single field goal. While that is true, he still made his time on the court count by snatching the basketball from the Clippers.
Russell Westbrook's defensive performance was reminiscent of his younger self. Back when he was with the OKC Thunder, he registered 1.8 a game in 11 seasons. This could be a good sign for Los Angeles as their new coach, Darvin Ham, is a defensive specialist. Even during the game, Ham had an unusual way of telling his players how to play defense.
The message is simple for Darvin Ham 😅 https://t.co/Io1bsXn3xp
Westbrook may have struggled offensively, but his defense could be a good sign for the Lakers.