Is Russell Westbrook Playing Tonight Vs Warriors? Will the 2017 MVP Play Amid the Debate Around Him Coming Off the Bench?

Akash Murty | 18/10/2022
"This Could Be Russell Westbrook's Last Year in the NBA": Fans Can't Digest the News About Brodie Possibly Ending His Career

Lakers’ $47M point guard, Russell Westbrook, has been told to lead the team’s second unit, but he might be considering himself too big a superstar to do that

The Los Angeles Lakers and its front office led by Rob Pelinka thought it was not worth losing two future first-round picks for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield in order to hand over Russell Westbrook’s contract to the Indiana Pacers.

Now, the first-year head coach Darvin Ham, who was a strong admirer of Brodie just a couple of months back, is thinking to call the 9x All-Star guard off the bench.

This might be a little offensive for the dynamic 33-year-old who did not return in the preseason game against the Sacramento Kings after going to the locker room within just 4 minutes of action. That was his first game starting from the bench.

Also read: “Russell Westbrook, I’m Sorry You Gotta Go Through That Bro”: Patrick Beverley Didn’t Feel Lakers Teammate’s Absence in His Huddle, Blames Media for the Hype

Russell Westbrook is listed as ‘PROBABLE’ for the first game of the regular season

When Russ took off for the locker room having seen just 4 minutes of action on Friday, people were speculating of him being angry about losing his starting role to Austin Reaves.

Despite his limping off the court, NBA media declared Brodie’s bitterness being the reason for his early exit and not coming back even when his team was losing by an atrocious margin.

That 47-point faded away because of the noise around the All-NBA guard losing his spot. But now it looks like Westbrook really is going through hamstring soreness.

The Lakers released their injury report before the big night against the Warriors and Russ is among the probables.

Westbrook was awful in the first game against the Warriors last season

Much like last week’s preseason loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he converted just one field goal out of his 3 field goal attempts, was off the target in last year’s opening day game against the Warriors.

His 4/13 shooting off the field, for 8 points, 4 assists, and 5 rebounds with a plus-minus of ‘-23’ was just the trailer for his career-worst season.

Is his possible absence from the opening day game of the 2022-23 season, a blessing in disguise for Darvin Ham’s group? We will have to wait a few hours to know for sure.

Also read: A Russell Westbrook Kemba Walker Trade Could Make Lebron James and the Lakers Very Happy

Post Edited By: Akash Murty
LA Lakers Los Angeles Lakers Russell Westbrook

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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