Lakers insider calls Westbrook trade removing ‘a vampire from the locker room’

An ESPN NBA reporter said a source told him that the Los Angeles Lakers trading away guard Russell Westbrook was like removing “a vampire from the locker room.”

The Los Angeles Lakers tried to build their own superteam by adding Russell Westbrook to pair alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis ahead of the 2021-22 season. But, it didn’t exactly work out for both the team and player, and it felt as though it was only a matter of time until both sides separated. Sure enough that happened, as the Lakers sent Westbrook to the Utah Jazz as part of a multi-team deal that had D’Angelo Russell heading to Los Angeles, and Mike Conley heading to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

During an appearance on NBA Today on Thursday, the day of the trade deadline, reporter Dave McMenamin discussed the trade of Westbrook, and he said a source told him that it was like the Lakers removed “a vampire from the locker room.”

"“This was the time to do it. Russell Westbrook was not going to be a part of the team after this summer when his contract expired, and also when his contract came off the books, the Lakers would have less money to deal with in the free agency period this summer,” said McMenamin. “So you had to do it if you wanted to get those pieces you could have part of the team moving forward. You get younger, you got shooting, you got switchable defenders, and as one source told me, ‘you remove a vampire from the locker room.’ That meaning the vampire sucks the blood out of the locker room. Russell Westbrook moves on.”"

NBA reporter says Lakers trade of Russell Westbrook was like ‘removing a vampire from locker room’

Well, that’s something.

Westbrook’s arrival in Los Angeles was supposed to help the Lakers make a push for the NBA Finals, much like they did in the 2019-20 season. But, Westbrook struggled in his first season and was even benched by then-head coach Frank Vogel.

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This season, Westbrook was demoted to a bench role under current head coach Darvin Ham. In his final game played with the Lakers, where LeBron James broke the all-time scoring record, Ham and Westbrook reportedly got into a heated argument in the locker room at halftime.

That report indicated that Ham took exception to Westbrook lingering on the floor when he was subbed out of the game.

Westbrook started in just 3-of-52 games played, where he averaged 15.9 points, 7.5 assists, and 6.2 rebounds while shooting 41.7-percent from the field and 29.6-percent from the three-point line.

While Westbrook was officially traded to the Jazz, he is expected to be bought out of his contract. If he is to hit free agency, Westbrook has reported interest from the Chicago Bulls and Clippers.