“Tryna Act Like It Was His Fault In LA”: Shaquille O’Neal Echoes NBA Fan’s Rant Over Russell Westbrook’s Historic 200th Triple Double

Russell Westbrook recently touched an unprecedented NBA milestone — crossing the 200 mark for triple-doubles. Westbrook has been holding the record since 2021 when he surpassed Oscar Robertson’s 181. With the new landmark, Russ fans have decided to let people know that any disrespect toward their star, particularly mentioning his stint with LA Lakers, will not be tolerated. And they have found an ally in Shaquille O’Neal as well.

Shaq shared a clip featuring a Russ fan from STONER SPORTS NETWORK on his Instagram story. In the clip, the fan can be heard listing out some of the point guard’s plays from the game against the Memphis Grizzlies.

In the game, the Denver Nugget recorded 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 14 assists. The fan used the performance to reiterate that Westbrook has made triple-doubles cool for the new generation.

“Put some respect on Brody’s name. Russell Westbrook been doing this. He made triple-double cool. Y’all trying to act like it’s a problem. Trying to act like it was his fault in LA. F**k all that. 200 triple-doubles,” the fan said in the video, urging everyone to stop disrespecting Russ.

The disrespect toward the nine-time All-Star has been on the rise of late — from nicknames like ‘Westbrick’ to booing during games. And the fan wanted that to end.

When the clip made its way to Shaq’s timeline, the Lakers legend posted it on his IG story, endorsing the views. Westbrook has indeed been disrespected ever since his stint at LA, and it’s time that it ended.

O’Neal shares his thoughts on Westbrook’s Lakers stint

During his conversation with Bill DiFilippo of Uproxx.com recently, Shaq had said that Westbrook was ‘too respectful’ while playing for the Lakers. The point guard was busy following the chain of command on the floor and ended up paying a big price for it.

Shaq said, “He was just being too nice. I don’t know the relationship between him and LeBron [James], but if you put that down on paper and I don’t know nothing about basketball, that’s a hell of a backcourt, Russell Westbrook and LeBron James. Why it didn’t work, I don’t know, but watching him play, he was super passive.”

Westbrook joined the Lakers in 2021, and played for two season. But, in his second year at the franchise, he was largely relegated to playing a sixth man’s role.

Russ averaged 17.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 7.2 assists per game for the Lakers. However, he was expected power LA’s championship run, and that never materialized. And things went bad to worse when the fans started targeting him.

Shaq claimed that if Westbrook played his natural game, without caring about who gets to have more possession, he’d have had a good run with the franchise.