"Russell 'Westbrick' is a disaster for your basketball team" - Skip Bayless on Russell Westbrook's consistent struggle with turnovers and its impact on LA Lakers
The LA Lakers are reeling. They've lost three in a row for the second time. Anthony Davis will be out for at least a month with a knee injury. And Tuesday's 108-90 home loss to the Phoenix Suns continued their disappointing futility against the NBA's top teams. The Lakers have not won against any of the four best teams from either conference.
The punches are flying straight at the LA Lakers (16-16), who expected to be championship contenders before the season but have not impressed at all.
In a Tuesday night tweet, ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins said he wondered if James would be considering returning to the Cavaliers.
And Wednesday on "Skip and Shannon: Undefeated," Fox analyst Skip Bayless took a break from bashing LeBron James to shift his attention to his teammate, Russell Westbrook. Los Angeles' biggest offseason acquisition has not provided much help.
The conclusion was that the Lakers could not compete with Westbrook's performance, especially with Davis out, leaving too much of a burden on James.
Westbrook was the recipient of Bayless' outburst as his turnover count continues to rise.
"Here's my bottom line: Russell 'Westbrick' is a disaster for your basketball team," Bayless said. "You cannot overcome him. He is completely out of control in so many different ways."
The sports analyst had harsher words for Westbrook, saying that the Lakers need to get rid of him:
"Your only hope to have a semblance of a team that could actually contend, I'm telling you, you have to get rid of him, at some point, and I know it's virtually impossible to do that."
After debating Westbrook's salary ($44.2 million this season, $47 million next season), Bayless continued:
"It's silly money, for this disaster of a player. He has become like a caricature of himself as a triple-double artist."
“You cannot overcome Russell Westbrook… He now leads the NBA in turnovers by 18. This is all-time bad, and he had 7 more last night.”
@RealSkipBayless on the 16-16 Los Angeles Lakers following loss to the Phoenix Suns: https://t.co/dRbEDTNtMw
The Lakers will need to make significant changes if they are to succeed this season. There have been rumors of the organization having internal meetings regarding Westbrook's future with the team. While it could be difficult to move him because of his salary, the Lakers might find a multi-team deal that will help them get disgruntled Philadelphia 76ers forward Ben Simmons.
How has Russell Westbrook fared this season?
It has been an up-and-down season for Russell Westbrook, who has played in all 32 games, and the fans have seen enough. Earlier in the season, he turned the ball over too many times but managed to do better. Unfortunately, he still has problems taking care of the ball.
Russell Westbrook has now committed a turnover in 400 consecutive games (dating back to March 16, 2016). It is the longest such streak in league history. The next longest is 239 by James Harden (and the next longest active streak is 132 by Darius Garland). https://t.co/G7TeG3RykF
The Lakers traded three players and a draft pick to the Washington Wizards during the summer, adding Mr. Triple-double because of his ability to influence games. But he has failed in that regard.
So far, the Lakers have struggled to get going offensively, even with James in the lineup. The Lakers sought a third scorer, because outside of James (26.4 points per game this season) and Anthony Davis (23.3 ppg), their scoring was a problem last season.
Although Westbrook has done a decent job scoring, he has not made the desired impact expected. He is averaging 19.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game. The numbers might look impressive, but he is not playing at the level desired from the nine-time All-Star and former MVP.
Turnovers continue to be a serious problem as Westbrook leads the league with 148 (4.6 per game). In their loss to Phoenix, the Lakers had 14 turnovers, and Westbrook was responsible for half of that total.
Westbrook said he believes the team can turn things around in the 50 remaining games, but he needs to do a better job protecting the ball.