“$206 million? Russell Westbrook is the most overpaid in NBA history!” : Skip Bayless reacts to The Athletic’s savage dissing and ranking of Lakers star

Russell Westbrook is coming off the back of arguably the worst season of his career.

Mr. Triple Double was one of the best players in the NBA at his peak. However, his value has hit rock bottom and he has become one of the biggest liabilities in the league in the blink of an eye.

Westbrook joined the Lakers with much hype. His move meant that the Lakers boasted an all-time trio on paper of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook.

However, things did not work out in LA and the Lakers are actively pursuing trades for Brodie per reports. His $47 million in guaranteed salary however means that no move would be possible without additional sweeteners.

Also read: Russell Westbrook trade rumors gain more traction as his Lakers #0 jersey gets included in 50% clearance sales

But things can only go uphill from here, right? Well, maybe not. The Athletic, one of the most respected sports publications, published their annual rankings for NBA players going into the 2022-23 season on Tuesday. Westbrook features in the lowest rung of rankings, i.e, Tier 5.

The Undisputed team was quick to the scene to dissect the rankings. Skip Bayless had a bit to say too.

How did Skip Bayless react to The Athletic’s ranking for Russ?

Skip Bayless was in agreement with Athletic’s rankings. Skip pointed out that Russ was amongst the worst shooters in the league and had an extremely high rate of turnovers too. His assessment was harsher than The Athletic’s, dubbing Russ the most overpaid NBA player of all time.

The Athletic ranks Westbrook in the lowest tier of NBA players. Did they get this right? @RealSkipBayless reacts: pic.twitter.com/LefFsF0THx

— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) July 12, 2022

Bayless added further fuel to the fire by saying that if there was a re-vote, Russ would not make the NBA’s 75th-anniversary team or be considered a sure-shot first-ballot Hall of Famer.

While the latter might not be the case, the claim for Russ being the most overpaid player stays. The last two years of the supermax Russ signed in 2017 could very likely be thought of as one of the worst deals in league history.

Is a change of scenario going to bring Westbrook back to life? Is there going to be a revival from the career freefall he’s going through? Only time can tell.

Also read: “I love Russell Westbrook, man! We ain’t going to try to curtail his energy”: Lakers new Head Coach is happy to run it back with 2017 MVP than going for Kyrie Irving