"Killing the team? You got issues": Former Warriors coach stands up for Russell Westbrook against infamous courtside heckling
Throughout his career, Russell Westbrook has dealt with his fair share of fans heckling him, but one former coach decided to come to the defense of the former All-Star and MVP.
Recently, longtime NBA point guard and former Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson launched his own podcast. On one of the first episodes, he detailed an event involving a fan heckling Westbrook during his time with the LA Lakers.
A fan was relentlessly yelling at Westbrook during a game. It hit a point where Jackson himself turned around and said something. He let the fan know that the team's issuess stemmed far deeper than one player.
"Loyal Laker, Season ticket holder, spent a lot of money, just bashing, Russell Westbrook, I turn around, I am like, you understand this guy is a first round Hall of Famer? He is like, he is killing the team. Killing the team?" Jackson said.
"You got issues. It ain’t Russell Westbrook. I don’t care how they portray it to be. It’s not Russell Westbrook. He has been a pro everywhere he has gone. For some reason, he has got a bad rep, and people have ran with it."
Following his departure from the Lakers, Westbrook has found a home for himself with the LA Clippers. This season, he's averaging 11.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists off the bench.
Russell Westbrook still viewed as scapegoat for LA Lakers' struggles
Following the 2021 season, the LA Lakers made a big splash by parting with their depth to bring in Russell Westbrook.
Many questioned the move from the beginning, and the doubts ended up being correct. The team struggled greatly after the trade, and one player took most of the blame.
Since he wasn't the typical kind of player put next to LeBron James, Westbrook saw a slight dip in production with the Lakers. His averages were still relatively high, but the team struggled to win games.
In his lone full season with the Lakers, they failed to make the playoffs but only won 33 games. While Westbrook was seen as the problem, there were much more issues beyond him. Most notably, that LeBron and Anthony Davis spent most of the year on the sidelines.
A year later, LA cut their losses with Westbrook and moved him at the trade deadline. The Lakers made it to the conference finals that season. However, fast forward to now, and they are once again on the cusp of missing the postseason.
If the season ended today, LeBron and Co. would have to make their way through the play-in tournament again. As Mark Jackson tried to tell that fan that while some centered the team's problems around Westrbook, that wasn't truly the case.