Russell Westbrook won’t stop taking shots at Frank Vogel
It’s been made more than clear that Los Angeles Lakers veteran Russell Westbrook is growing increasingly frustrated with head coach Frank Vogel.
Things really just keep going from bad to worse for Russell Westbrook with the Los Angeles Lakers. There was so much promise for him when he joined the team, but the former All-Star has looked far from his usual self this campaign.
This has led to reduced minutes, and Westbrook is also often being sent to the bench with games on the line. With him being such a competitor, he’s understandably frustrated with things and some of the decisions being made by head coach Frank Vogel.
When asked if he knows the benchmarks he has to hit to make the Lakers’ closing lineup, Russell Westbrook said: “I shouldn’t have to hit any benchmarks, to be honest. I put a lot of work in. I got a lot of respect in this game. … I earned the right to be in closing lineups.”
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) February 9, 2022
Russell Westbrook wants to help the Lakers in crunch time
Things have gotten so bad for Westbrook with the Lakers, that even fans are starting to turn on him because of disappointing play. Despite his struggles, Westbrook is still averaging 18.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.6 assists a night. That’s coming in under 35 minutes per game.
Pretty telling stuff from Russell Westbrook, saying he's not been communicated with about his minutes, saying he's earned the right to close games. Said he respects Frank Vogel's decisions, but obviously, he wants to be out there.
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) February 9, 2022
Westbrook has played under 30 minutes in back-to-back games, an overtime win over the Knicks on Sunday and Tuesday’s loss to the Bucks. It’s not just Westbrook who hasn’t lived up to the hype this year.
As a whole, the Lakers haven’t met expectations. After the loss to Milwaukee, this team is now 26-29 on the season. No one expected this group to be three games under .500 55 contests into 2021-22, but here we are.
With the Lakers in ninth place of the Western Conference standings, they’ll need to wake up and start playing some good ball to try and lock up a playoff spot. Westbrook will of course look to have a big role in that. It’ll be on Vogel to decide if Westbrook will be given that chance or not.
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