According to sources, Russell Westbrook has decided to exercise his $47.1 million option to return to play for the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2022-2023 season.
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After a horrific 2020-2021 season, the Los Angeles Lakers made quite a few roster changes. Adding Russell Westbrook was one of the biggest offseason moves taken by the front office, in hopes to replicate the success LeBron James and co. witnessed back in the 2020 Orlando Bubble.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for LAL in the 2021-2022 campaign. Frank Vogel’s boys finished the year with an abysmal 33-49 record, failing to make the playoffs.
Apart from Anthony Davis’ injury-riddled year, a huge reason for the Lakers’ failures was the unproductive season Westbrook had. The 2017 MVP had one of the worst seasons of his career, averaging merely 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 7.1 assists while shooting the ball at an awful 29.8% from beyond the arch, 66.7% from the charity stripe, and turning the ball over 3.8 times per game.
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After having a pretty forgettable season, there were a lot of speculations that Westbrook would part ways with the LA-based team. However, sources reveal that Mr. Triple Double is planning to exercise his $47.1 million option to return to play for the Purple & Gold for the upcoming season.
ESPN Sources: Los Angeles Lakers star Russell Westbrook is planning to exercise his $47.1 million option to return to the franchise for the 2022-2023 season.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 28, 2022
NBA Twitter reacts as Russell Westbrook posts a video vibing to a Beyonce song just moments before opting into his player option
Just moments before sources revealed that Westbrook was planning to opt into his player option, Russ posted a video of him vibing to Beyonce’s “Break My Soul”.
— Russell Westbrook (@russwest44) June 28, 2022
As soon as the news went viral on social media, NBA Twitter exploded with reactions.
Russ after Kyrie went back to the Nets pic.twitter.com/BqNRM3nPSP
— LouAye (@LouAye_) June 28, 2022
Skip Bayless seeing Russell Westbrook happy. pic.twitter.com/d5yVULwkaq
— Rivendell Inonog (@RivendellInonog) June 28, 2022
Lakers fans are done with the season: pic.twitter.com/mHcbENwEqQ
— Caesars Sportsbook (@CaesarsSports) June 28, 2022
Lakers fans watching Russ sing Beyoncé songs in his car like pic.twitter.com/uLBKi4p3iD
— The NBA Expert (@RealNBAExpert) June 28, 2022
“This mfer” pic.twitter.com/NroiD49uVQ
— LouAye (@LouAye_) June 28, 2022
Hopefully, under the new head coach Darvin Ham, the Lakers’ big three are able to have a much better year than they had this past season.
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