{"id":163525,"date":"2025-10-20T14:40:52","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T18:40:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=163525"},"modified":"2025-10-20T14:40:52","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T18:40:52","slug":"russell-westbrook-lakers-drama-book-excerpt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/10\/20\/russell-westbrook-lakers-drama-book-excerpt\/","title":{"rendered":"Russell Westbrook, Lakers Drama Gets New Light in Book Excerpt"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fans of both the Lakers and nine-time All-Star <\/span>Russell Westbrook<\/span><\/a> would likely prefer to forget the tumultuous the pair endured from 2021 to 2023. However, a new book about LeBron James\u2019 time with the Purple and Gold has brought those memories\u2014and an unexpected interaction\u2014back to the surface.<\/span><\/p>\n

Russell Westbrook, Lakers Drama Gets New Light in Book Excerpt<\/b><\/h2>\n

Excerpt From \u201cA Hollywood Ending\u201d<\/b><\/h3>\n

In his forthcoming book \u201cA Hollywood Ending: The Dreams and Drama of the LeBron Lakers,\u201d NBA journalist Yaron Weitzman touched on the summer of 2022. The period came after the Lakers acquired Westbrook from the Wizards and, following a season filled with tribulations, emerged with a 33-49 record.<\/span><\/p>\n

An <\/span>excerpt of Weitzman’s book<\/span><\/a> was published Monday in <\/span>The Ringer<\/span><\/i>, detailing how the friendship between Westbrook and James deteriorated over the course of the regular season and into the summer. James hardly supported Westbrook in private despite public calls to, \u201cLet Russ be Russ.\u201d Trade rumors that claimed the Lakers could swap Westbrook for <\/span>Kyrie Irving<\/span><\/a> only fanned the flames.<\/span><\/p>\n

Will Smith\u2019s Role in the Lakers-Westbrook Drama<\/b><\/h4>\n

But perhaps the proverbial nail in the coffin was an August 2022 visit from music and film star Will Smith. Moments before Smith entered the Lakers\u2019 film room, Westbrook argued with\u00a0 ex-Lakers guard <\/span>Patrick Beverley<\/span><\/a> after James and Davis left through a back door.<\/span><\/p>\n

After Smith\u2019s talk with the team, James peppered him with questions, causing Westbrook to complain about LeBron\u2019s behavior to a teammate.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSeated in the third row, picking at a bowl of fruit, Westbrook watched in disbelief, shaking his head and rolling his eyes every time LeBron spoke.<\/span><\/p>\n

I hate that fake <\/span><\/i>shit<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>Westbrook said to a teammate afterward, as the Lakers gathered for a team photo. I just can\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Differing Journeys Post-Trade<\/b><\/h3>\n

The tense atmosphere between James, Westbrook and the Lakers clouded the organization until the team traded Westbrook in February 2023. While the Lakers went on to make the 2023 Western Conference Finals and sustain consecutive first-round exits (and acquire <\/span>Luka Doncic<\/span><\/a> in a franchise-altering trade), Westbrook\u2014to his credit\u2014has remained a solid contributor and consummate professional on the rest of his NBA journey. After joining the Clippers off of waivers and signing with the Nuggets last summer, Russ enters year 18 with the Lakers\u2019 division rival, the Sacramento Kings.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Mar
Mar 19, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook (4) defends Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) in the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Beverley Defends Westbrook<\/b><\/h3>\n

Beverley recently went to bat for Westbrook<\/span><\/a> on \u201cThe Pat Bev Pod,\u201d highlighting how he \u201cgot a bad take\u201d because of the Lakers and calling him \u201cthe best teammate I [will] ever have.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEver since Russ left the Lakers, bro, he\u2019s been on a minimum, bro. We\u2019ve never seen this ever. We\u2019ve never seen a player who\u2019s been the MVP, who\u2019s impacted the game\u2014who they call him names and tell him that he can\u2019t shoot. Go to the playoffs, shoot 40 with the Clippers the very next year. Take a less demeaning role with the Lakers. Take a less demeaning role with the Clippers. He\u2019s been a sixth man ever since he\u2019s left the Lakers.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There\u2019s no denying that the Lakers\u2019 experiment with Westbrook significantly affected the trajectories of both sides. However, it\u2019s clear they\u2019ve each moved on and found success in different ways.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 William Liang-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fans of both the Lakers and nine-time All-Star Russell Westbrook would likely prefer to forget the tumultuous the pair endured from 2021 to 2023. However, a new book about LeBron James\u2019 time with the Purple and Gold has brought those memories\u2014and an unexpected interaction\u2014back to the surface. Russell Westbrook, Lakers Drama Gets New Light in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":163527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,26,62,3],"tags":[38,494,53],"class_list":["post-163525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","category-news","tag-lebron-james","tag-patrick-beverley","tag-russell-westbrook"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163525"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":163536,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163525\/revisions\/163536"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}