By far, the biggest scapegoat for the Los Angeles Lakers’ struggles this season has been guard Russell Westbrook.
Because of his flaws and his somewhat prickly personality, he is an easy scapegoat for all that has gone wrong with the team.
The popular perception of him is that he lacks self-awareness, but after the Lakers’ 109-104 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, he made a timely acknowledgment about how he’s been playing of late.
Via Spectrum SportsNet:
“I need to be better overall. What I’m doing right now isn’t good enough.”
Obviously, saying he needs to be better isn’t nearly enough, but it is always said that the first step to solving a problem is acknowledging it.
"I need to be better overall. What I'm doing right now isn't good enough." Russell Westbrook following a 5-17 shooting night in #Lakers loss to Dallas. pic.twitter.com/mgM55WBaxT
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) March 2, 2022
Westbrook’s play has been up and down this season. For certain, he has had plenty of good and even great games, but lately, his performance has been trending downward.
On Sunday against the New Orleans Pelicans, he shot 5-of-15 from the field while committing seven turnovers and dishing out one assist.
On a positive note, Westbrook has been having very few high-turnover games lately, a trend that dates to early January.
Since Jan. 4, he has been averaging just 2.6 turnovers per game, an outstanding stat, especially for such a turnover-prone player like him.
The Lakers have explored trading him and even reportedly turned down a deal that would’ve sent him to the Houston Rockets, and now both sides seem to have agreed to part ways if possible this offseason.
But for now, Westbrook will either help the Lakers make the playoffs or go down with them.
