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.

The post Frank Vogel Takes Blame for Russell Westbrook’s Poor Debut appeared first on yoursportspot.com.

Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard had a chat with Chris Miller of NBC Sports Washington and said that Westbrook kept a “professional” attitude prior to leaving for Los Angeles. According to Sheppard, the 2017 NBA MVP only expressed interest in being traded if that meant he’d join the Lakers.

“Russell actually never asked to move on,” Sheppard told Miller. “He just said, ‘If I can get to the Lakers, that’d be something I would love to do. If not, I’ll be back here.'”

Sheppard also revealed that he proposed the Los Angeles Clippers as a potential destination, but Westbrook wasn’t open to that idea.

“So Russell was happy being here, and we were very grateful for him being here,” he added.

Westbrook ended up getting his wish and will now play in front of his hometown crowd alongside fellow superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Wizards, on the other hand, received a strong package in return that includes Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell, and Kyle Kuzma, which will allow them to build around their All-Star Bradley Beal.

Westbrook spent one season with the Wizards and averaged 22.2 points per game alongside a career-high 11.5 rebounds and 11.7 assists. Washington made it to the playoffs through a play-in tournament before being eliminated in the first round against the Philadelphia 76ers.

The post Russell Westbrook “Actually Never Asked to Move On” Says Wizards GM appeared first on yoursportspot.com.

Everybody predicted the Wizards to lose before the tip-off against Brooklyn on Monday night. They were in bad form, dealing with injuries and COVID-19 issues, while the Nets had won the last four and seemed like they are just getting hot.

Things looked like advertised for the better part of the game, with Brooklyn leading as much as 18 points. But defensive issues and the resilience of Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal turned the easy win into a wild finish.

With 12 seconds left in the contest, the Nets were up by five, and it looked like they had this one in the bag. But Ish Smith quickly inbounded the ball and got it to Beal, who drilled a three-pointer to cut the lead in two.

Brooklyn’s Joe Harris tried to get the ball back in the court in a hurry after Beal’s shot, causing a miscommunication between him and Kevin Durant. Garrison Mathew stole the ball, dished it to Westbrook, who sunk a dagger three to completely turn around the game in just seven seconds.

The Nets tried to respond in the dying second, but the previous sequence by Wizards was too much of a shock for them to make something happen.

Russell Westbrook was the man of the night, having scored 41 points with 10 rebounds and eight assists. Bradley Beal followed with a similarly great game, putting up 37 points to go with six rebounds and four assists.

Kevin Durant was Brooklyn’s best player, having a 37-point, seven-rebound, and six-assist performance. Joe Harris and Kyrie Irving added 30 and 26 points, respectively.

Despite the win, the Wizards still have the worst record in the NBA league at 4-12. Nets are second in the East at 13-9.

The post Russell Westbrook Scores 41 Points to Lead the Wizards Past the Nets appeared first on yoursportspot.com.

According to Wizards head coach Scott Brooks, Westbrook is dealing with a quadriceps injury and will be on the sidelines for at least one week. The 32-year-old All-Star initially got hurt during training camp and never fully recovered.

“It was starting to get better, and then he hit it again, set him back a little bit,” said Brooks. “And then the last time, it was in Philadelphia [on Wednesday], he hit it again.”

This is a tough blow for the Wizards, who had high hopes for 2020-21 but opened the season with a disappointing 2-8 record.

The news also comes after Washington starter Thomas Bryant also got injured for the season. Bryant suffered a torn ACL in a loss to Boston Celtics on Saturday.

The Wizards acquired Russell Westbrook in the offseason, trading guard John Wall and a protected first-round pick to the Houston Rockets in exchange. The franchise hoped that pairing Westbrook with their superstar Bradley Beal could finally put Washington in contention in the Eastern Conference.

However, Westbrook hasn’t been able to provide that so far despite being on the verge of averaging a triple-double. He’s played seven games in a Wizards’ jersey and contributed 19.3 points, 11.3 assists, and 9.7 rebounds per contest so far.

The post Wizards’ Russell Westbrook Dealing with Quadriceps Injury appeared first on yoursportspot.com.

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.

The post Frank Vogel Takes Blame for Russell Westbrook’s Poor Debut appeared first on yoursportspot.com.

Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard had a chat with Chris Miller of NBC Sports Washington and said that Westbrook kept a “professional” attitude prior to leaving for Los Angeles. According to Sheppard, the 2017 NBA MVP only expressed interest in being traded if that meant he’d join the Lakers.

“Russell actually never asked to move on,” Sheppard told Miller. “He just said, ‘If I can get to the Lakers, that’d be something I would love to do. If not, I’ll be back here.'”

Sheppard also revealed that he proposed the Los Angeles Clippers as a potential destination, but Westbrook wasn’t open to that idea.

“So Russell was happy being here, and we were very grateful for him being here,” he added.

Westbrook ended up getting his wish and will now play in front of his hometown crowd alongside fellow superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Wizards, on the other hand, received a strong package in return that includes Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell, and Kyle Kuzma, which will allow them to build around their All-Star Bradley Beal.

Westbrook spent one season with the Wizards and averaged 22.2 points per game alongside a career-high 11.5 rebounds and 11.7 assists. Washington made it to the playoffs through a play-in tournament before being eliminated in the first round against the Philadelphia 76ers.

The post Russell Westbrook “Actually Never Asked to Move On” Says Wizards GM appeared first on yoursportspot.com.

Everybody predicted the Wizards to lose before the tip-off against Brooklyn on Monday night. They were in bad form, dealing with injuries and COVID-19 issues, while the Nets had won the last four and seemed like they are just getting hot.

Things looked like advertised for the better part of the game, with Brooklyn leading as much as 18 points. But defensive issues and the resilience of Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal turned the easy win into a wild finish.

With 12 seconds left in the contest, the Nets were up by five, and it looked like they had this one in the bag. But Ish Smith quickly inbounded the ball and got it to Beal, who drilled a three-pointer to cut the lead in two.

Brooklyn’s Joe Harris tried to get the ball back in the court in a hurry after Beal’s shot, causing a miscommunication between him and Kevin Durant. Garrison Mathew stole the ball, dished it to Westbrook, who sunk a dagger three to completely turn around the game in just seven seconds.

The Nets tried to respond in the dying second, but the previous sequence by Wizards was too much of a shock for them to make something happen.

Russell Westbrook was the man of the night, having scored 41 points with 10 rebounds and eight assists. Bradley Beal followed with a similarly great game, putting up 37 points to go with six rebounds and four assists.

Kevin Durant was Brooklyn’s best player, having a 37-point, seven-rebound, and six-assist performance. Joe Harris and Kyrie Irving added 30 and 26 points, respectively.

Despite the win, the Wizards still have the worst record in the NBA league at 4-12. Nets are second in the East at 13-9.

The post Russell Westbrook Scores 41 Points to Lead the Wizards Past the Nets appeared first on yoursportspot.com.

According to Wizards head coach Scott Brooks, Westbrook is dealing with a quadriceps injury and will be on the sidelines for at least one week. The 32-year-old All-Star initially got hurt during training camp and never fully recovered.

“It was starting to get better, and then he hit it again, set him back a little bit,” said Brooks. “And then the last time, it was in Philadelphia [on Wednesday], he hit it again.”

This is a tough blow for the Wizards, who had high hopes for 2020-21 but opened the season with a disappointing 2-8 record.

The news also comes after Washington starter Thomas Bryant also got injured for the season. Bryant suffered a torn ACL in a loss to Boston Celtics on Saturday.

The Wizards acquired Russell Westbrook in the offseason, trading guard John Wall and a protected first-round pick to the Houston Rockets in exchange. The franchise hoped that pairing Westbrook with their superstar Bradley Beal could finally put Washington in contention in the Eastern Conference.

However, Westbrook hasn’t been able to provide that so far despite being on the verge of averaging a triple-double. He’s played seven games in a Wizards’ jersey and contributed 19.3 points, 11.3 assists, and 9.7 rebounds per contest so far.

The post Wizards’ Russell Westbrook Dealing with Quadriceps Injury appeared first on yoursportspot.com.