The Lakers are just 10 games into their 2021-22 campaign, but, already, not a few quarters have seen fit to declare the Russell Westbrook experiment a failure. It isn鈥檛 simply that he remains inefficient; that was a given even for the most optimistic supporters of the purple and gold. It鈥檚 that he appears to be utterly unable to make the right decisions in the crunch. The 鈥淲estbrook needs to be Westbrook in order to succeed鈥 argument will go only so far when the losses keep piling up.
At this point, there can be no turning back the clock and wondering why the Lakers saw fit to overhaul its roster and roll the dice on the National Basketball Association鈥檚 most polarizing player. True, he has a sterling r茅sum茅; he鈥檚 a nine-time All-Star with a Most Valuable Player award to boot. On the other hand, he competes with blinders on; his gaudy stats have come largely with the offense bending to his will 鈥 by hook or by crook, for better or for worse.
It鈥檚 possible that, with a few favorable bounces here and there, the Lakers will have been owners of a better slate that takes the pressure off their offseason reboot. There鈥檚 a reason Lady Luck hasn鈥檛 smiled on them, however; the best teams make and carve fortunes, and, try as the pride of La-La Land may, the ones they do have them either stepping back or running in place. And because Westbrook is the new marquee name, the onus is most definitely on him to deliver on his promise 鈥 or at least try by adapting.
Perhaps Westbrook will be properly chastened by resident foundations LeBron James and Anthony Davis. For all his supposed strengths, he鈥檚 third 鈥 maybe even fourth given the outstanding effort of sixth man Carmelo Antthony 鈥 in the pecking order. He can no longer act as if he鈥檚 first among equals, the way he has to disastrous results.
If there鈥檚 one thing the Lakers have going for them, it鈥檚 that they have James to count on. The league鈥檚 greatest problem solver (arguably in history) should be able to figure things out by the time the matches really count. The flipside is that he has to be on the court to orchestrate the requisite adjustments 鈥 an iffy proposition given his spotty injury record of late. Which leads all and sundry to wonder if their aim to reach the stars ultimately won鈥檛 get lift off due to self-imposed obstacles too difficult to surmount.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since 大象传媒 introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
