The NBA Trade deadline is over, and the Lakers did not make any moves much to the disbelief of the basketball world.
The Los Angeles Lakers are having a horrendous season after being title favorites at the beginning. They are currently 9th in the West and struggling to even make the play-in. And because of that, the league was expecting the Lakers to shake it up and make some moves prior to the deadline.
But the deadline is over and the team is the same. News is that the team will be focusing on adding players via the buyout market but there have been no official deals yet.
If there has been one player to take on most of the blame and hate from the fans, it has been none other than Russell Westbrook. The former MVP is in his first year with his hometown Laker team, but it has not gone as planned. He has been playing well below his standards as he’s averaging only 18.3 points, his lowest since his second year in the league.
Safe to say that he has to play better. The team and the fans were all expecting big things from him after trading for him in the offseason. He hasn’t been performing like the MVP level player that he expects himself to be, and it’s been so bad that Frank Vogel has been benching him at the end of games lately.
It’s obvious that Westbrook has been one of the disappointments this year, but how the fans have been treating him lately isn’t helping either. Fans can criticize players, but they have been going a bit too far. Fans have been boo-ing him in home games after a missed shot. Fans have been screaming at him not to take a shot.
As a basketball player, you can just imagine how tough it would be to see and hear that your own home fans aren’t believing in you and not wanting you to take a shot. Fans are supposed to support you. Fans are supposed to want you to do your best. It’s okay to criticize. But when the time comes, you need to believe in your players.
Westbrook needs to play better that’s for sure. But the fans need to be better too. Laker Nation needs to believe in Russ and provide him the energy that he thrives from.
Russell Westbrook is a Laker at least until the end of this season. The least the Laker fans can do is believe in him and support him.
Featured Image: Kent Smith/Jared Tilton/nba.com
