After sitting out in overtime against the Knicks, Russell Westbrook this time did not enter the 4th quarter against the Bucks. Once again whistled by the Crypto.com Arena, the Lakers point guard finished the game at 3 of 11 on shots, with four stray bullets, and he laughed when asked about these whistles.
“It’s a mark of respect” he answers. “My state of mind and my way of playing are not based on possible whistles. I’m lucky to have a platform that I can use to do whatever I want and stuff, and I will continue to do that. It doesn’t matter if I’m whistled or encouraged. You can take it out on me. You can whistle me. It doesn’t really matter. The most important thing is that I can continue to use this gift to play basketball, and use my platform to help people around the world, and that’s it. “
All smiles, Westbrook then explains that his happiness is to take his children to school, to see his parents, and that everything that happens on the ground is secondary. ” Basketball is only a small part of our lives. I like it, I have fun, and I want to play at the highest level, but it’s not an end in itself. There are more important things than basketball. “
A journalist then questions him about this scene, in the 4th quarter, where we see him comforting LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Both have their heads down, stunned by this heavy defeat.
“I came to encourage them. I told them to keep their heads up, to keep giving their all.” Westbrook replies. “I told them that I would have liked to help them, but unfortunately I was not on the pitch to do so. It was not my decision…”.
“I think I deserve to finish the matches. The numbers will speak for themselves”
Precisely, about this choice of Vogel to leave him on the bench, are there discussions, a justification?
“I don’t need him to explain to me. Whatever his decision, I have to do my job, keep a positive mindset and encourage my teammates. I didn’t set myself a stat line to be in the starting five or the finishing five. I think I deserve to finish the matches. The numbers will speak for themselves. As I said before, it’s not up to me. It’s not my decision. It’s the coach’s decision, and the staff felt it was the best thing to do.
| Russell Westbrook | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2008-09 | OKAY | 82 | 33 | 39.8 | 27.1 | 81.5 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 4.9 | 5.3 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 3.3 | 0.2 | 15.3 |
| 2009-10 | OKAY | 82 | 34 | 41.8 | 22.1 | 78.0 | 1.7 | 3.2 | 4.9 | 8.0 | 2.5 | 1.3 | 3.3 | 0.4 | 16.1 |
| 2010-11 | OKAY | 82 | 35 | 44.2 | 33.0 | 84.2 | 1.5 | 3.2 | 4.6 | 8.2 | 2.5 | 1.9 | 3.9 | 0.4 | 21.9 |
| 2011-12 | OKAY | 66 | 35 | 45.7 | 31.6 | 82.3 | 1.5 | 3.1 | 4.6 | 5.5 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 3.6 | 0.3 | 23.6 |
| 2012-13 | OKAY | 82 | 35 | 43.8 | 32.3 | 80.0 | 1.4 | 3.9 | 5.2 | 7.4 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 3.3 | 0.3 | 23.2 |
| 2013-14 | OKAY | 46 | 31 | 43.7 | 31.8 | 82.6 | 1.2 | 4.5 | 5.7 | 6.9 | 2.3 | 1.9 | 3.9 | 0.2 | 21.8 |
| 2014-15 | OKAY | 67 | 34 | 42.6 | 29.9 | 83.5 | 1.9 | 5.4 | 7.3 | 8.6 | 2.8 | 2.1 | 4.4 | 0.2 | 28.2 |
| 2015-16 | OKAY | 80 | 34 | 45.4 | 29.6 | 81.2 | 1.8 | 6.0 | 7.8 | 10.4 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 4.3 | 0.3 | 23.5 |
| 2016-17 ★ | OKAY | 81 | 35 | 42.5 | 34.3 | 84.5 | 1.7 | 9.0 | 10.7 | 10.4 | 2.4 | 1.6 | 5.4 | 0.4 | 31.6 |
| 2017-18 | OKAY | 80 | 36 | 44.9 | 29.8 | 73.7 | 1.9 | 8.2 | 10.1 | 10.3 | 2.5 | 1.8 | 4.8 | 0.3 | 25.4 |
| 2018-19 | OKAY | 73 | 36 | 42.8 | 29.0 | 65.6 | 1.5 | 9.6 | 11.1 | 10.7 | 3.4 | 2.0 | 4.5 | 0.5 | 23.0 |
| 2019-20 | HOO | 57 | 36 | 47.2 | 25.8 | 76.3 | 1.8 | 6.2 | 7.9 | 7.0 | 3.5 | 1.6 | 4.5 | 0.4 | 27.3 |
| 2020-21 | WAS | 65 | 36 | 43.9 | 31.5 | 65.6 | 1.7 | 9.9 | 11.5 | 11.7 | 2.9 | 1.4 | 4.8 | 0.4 | 22.2 |
| 2021-22 | ALL | 54 | 35 | 43.7 | 30.0 | 66.8 | 1.4 | 6.4 | 7.8 | 7.7 | 3.0 | 1.1 | 4.1 | 0.3 | 18.4 |
| Total | 997 | 35 | 43.7 | 30.5 | 78.5 | 1.7 | 5.8 | 7.4 | 8.5 | 2.6 | 1.7 | 4.1 | 0.3 | 22.9 | |
