Russell Westbrook was traded by the L.A. Lakers to the Utah Jazz, but after agreeing to a buyout with the Jazz he will finish the season back in L.A. with the L.A. Clippers. Not content to use Westbrook as a scapegoat for the Lakers' failures this season, many media members are displaying unseemly--but not surprising--joy in predicting that Westbrook will ruin the Clippers. It has been noted that the oddsmakers have decreased the Clippers' odds of winning the NBA title since the announcement of the Westbrook signing, with the implication that the Las Vegas experts have inside knowledge of how terrible a player Westbrook is. Of course, such a narrative betrays a misunderstanding of how odds function: odds are not predictions of individual or team performance, but rather are calibrated to result in the bets being split as evenly as possible. The gambling pleasure palaces built in Las Vegas and elsewhere are paid for by the vigorish--the cut of the action that the oddsmakers receive. The oddsmakers do not care who wins and are not trying to predict who will win; if the wagered money is split evenly between both sides, the oddsmakers win every time.
The propaganda campaign waged against Westbrook for the last year and a half is going to lose a lot of momentum now that Westbrook is playing for a legitimate NBA franchise that is more likely to utilize him correctly. The Lakers' 2022-23 season has been about two things: (1) making sure that LeBron James breaks Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's career regular season scoring record, and (2) making sure that LeBron James is in no way blamed for his team sinking so far in the standings that you might get the bends searching to find them.
If you read half of what is written about Westbrook, you might think that he is the basketball version of Damien from "The Omen" sent from the depths of Hell to destroy the saintly LeBron James and the angelic L.A. Lakers.
It interesting that Paul George, who had the best season of his career while teaming up with Westbrook in Oklahoma City, openly lobbied for the Clippers to sign Westbrook. If Westbrook is such a horrible teammate and washed up player, why would George--who is the second best player on a potential championship contender--be so eager to play with him?
It is also interesting that Brian Windhorst is so publicly insistent that the Clippers should not make Westbrook their starting point guard. With all of the player movement going on in the NBA recently, why is that particular roster move so important to him? Is Windhorst afraid of how many triple doubles Westbrook might have down the stretch on a team that is trying to win as opposed to a team that is catering to LeBron James' whims? Windhorst understands that each Westbrook triple double--particularly in a Clippers win--refutes the false narrative that he, Dave McMenamin, and others have been spouting about Westbrook.
As we move away from the darkness of anonymous sources bashing Westbrook and toward the light of people who will put their names on their comments, we reach Lonnie Walker IV, who played with Westbrook this season and has nothing but praise for his former teammate:
He keeps things professional. I've never seen him look deterred or upset. And especially for me being with San Antonio and being from the outside in and being like, "Yeah, like Russ what’s going on?" He trippin', he doing this, he doing that. But to be with him…man, he's one of the hardest-working dudes I've been around. And he's probably one of the best teammates I've ever had. That's something that I didn't even expect because of how much the media has influenced and kinda showed what he was.
Every single day, he's asking how everyone is. Whether it's after games and he sees my family and he's talking to my family. Inviting them to get some clothes or whatnot and hang out. He's just a great guy and the thing I learned his intensity…there's nothing like it. He's on it and it’s not something that he switches on and off.
Today, the Clippers have a 33-26 record and are in fourth place in the Western Conference. The 27-32 Lakers are in 13th place in the 15 team Western Conference. Clip and file those numbers. It will be fascinating to see how these teams fare down the stretch. I am not predicting a championship for the Clippers, and with only 23 games remaining it is too easy to just pick the Clippers to finish ahead of the Lakers: if the Clippers go just 12-11 then the Lakers would have to go 18-5 to tie them in the standings. However, I expect that the Clippers will post a better record down the stretch than the highly touted "new and improved" Lakers, and I expect that Westbrook will play well for the Clippers.