Internal Push Inside Lakers To Bench Russell Westbrook

The Los Angeles Lakers have put together a disappointing 2021-22 NBA campaign with it looking like it’s too late for things to turn around in a meaningful way. A key reason for that has been the lack of fit between Russell Westbrook and the rest of the starting lineup.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, there’s been “an increasing push among many” in the Lakers organization to move Russell Westbrook to the bench. So far, Frank Vogel has pushed back on that idea.

“There has been an increasing push among many in the Los Angeles Lakers organization to demote nine-time All-Star guard Russell Westbrook from the starting lineup, but so far coach Frank Vogel has resisted bringing him off the bench, sources told ESPN.”

There’s been discussion among the coaching staff about various ways to utilize Westbrook—resulting in “tense moments” between Vogel and Westbrook. There have been numerous instances of this as of late, but as Wojnarowski reported, most notably in a team film session on Friday.

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“The coaching staff and Westbrook have had differing visions on how best to utilize the 2017 NBA Most Valuable Player, and that has partly accounted for some tense moments between Vogel and Westbrook in the past several days, including during a Friday team film session, sources told ESPN.”

Entering Saturday’s matchup with the Golden State Warriors, Russell Westbrook was averaging 18.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 7.3 assists while shooting just 43.3% from the flor and 28.4% from deep. It has been by far the worst season since his early Oklahoma City Thunder days.

LATEST NEWS ON LAKERS’ STRUGGLES THIS NBA SEASON: When asked after the loss to the Clippers about if the team has talked about bringing Russell Westbrook off the bench, Los Angeles Lakers coach Frank Vogel said: “We’ve talked about everything.” READ MORE

NBA EXPANSION NEWS: The Charlotte Bobcats, now the Charlotte Hornets, were the last expansion team in the NBA back in 2004 and with more and more talent entering the league through the draft, plus the idea of equaling out “superteams” in the league, the NBA could serious re-open conversations about adding two more expansion teams to take the league to 32 total teams. READ MORE

Grant Afseth

Grant Afseth is an NBA reporter for NBA Analysis Network and Dallas Mavericks reporter for DallasBasketball.com. He previously covered the Indiana Pacers and NBA for CNHI's Kokomo Tribune and various NBA teams for USA TODAY Sports Media Group. Follow him on Twitter (@grantafseth), Facebook (@grantgafseth), and YouTube (@grantafseth).

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