Russell Westbrook has had his fair share of struggles since joining the Los Angeles Lakers this season. While he does have flashes of brilliance, he tends to give up a lot of turnovers and it has made the Lakers hard to watch. This was certainly true last night as the Lakers gave up a 19-point lead, allowing the Oklahoma City Thunder to come back and win the game. It was the Lakers' second loss to the Thunder this season, and the Lakers remain the only team that OKC has actually beaten.
While Russ did notch 27 points, his performance in the dying minutes was lackluster, and many Lakers fans were upset with what they were seeing. Today, Russ' play was scrutinized by all of the TV analysts, including Skip Bayless who made sure to let his feelings be known on the matter.
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Skip has been a harsh critic of Russ so far this season, and he didn't stop today as he stated that Russ is in the midst of ruining the purple and gold.
"As I predicted, this won't work! There's no Bron, it was Russ' time to shine and he played out of control. A turnover machine with low basketball IQ," Skip wrote. "Bottom line: Russell Westbrook is killing your Los Angeles Lakers."
This is an opinion shared by many right now, although it doesn't mean things won't get better for the Lakers. They are a team full of superstars, and it won't be long before they figure things out. If they can't, however, than this experiment will go down as a failed one.