Superstar guard Russell Westbrook joined the Los Angeles Lakers in the summer as the final puzzle piece that will help LeBron James and Anthony Davis win another NBA title for the storied franchise. But it’s safe to say that Westbrook looked nothing like a championship-caliber player in his debut for the franchise.
In the Lakers’ season-opening 121-114 loss to the Golden State Warriors, Westbrook spent 35 minutes on the floor and just managed to score eight points. He also turned the ball over four times and made only four out of 14 shots he took.
While this caused many Lakers doubters to proclaim their experiment with Westbrook a failure, the team’s head coach Frank Vogel is a lot more optimistic. Speaking with reporters earlier this week, Vogel said that the 32-year-old’s poor debut for the franchise is on him.
“[Westbrook played] pretty good,” Vogel said. “We didn’t get him involved enough, and that’s on me. We continue to look at situations to make him useful and not pull away from what [Anthony Davis] and [LeBron James] are doing.”
Westbrook received support from his teammates as well, with Anthony Davis believing the 2017’s NBA MVP will bounce back in no time.
“He’s just got to be himself like I said before, and everything will work out for him,” Davis added.
Lakers acquired Westbrook in a blockbuster trade with Washington Wizards in early August. They gave up Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell, and Kyle Kuzma, as well as their first-round pick in 2021 to get him.
