Lakers Place the Blame on LeBron James’ Camp for Russell Westbrook Trade

LeBron James and Anthony Davis really wanted Russell Westbrook and the Los Angeles Lakers got him through a trade. Well, this was one of the worst moves the Lakers made in the last few seasons. He delivered too many turnovers and the team wasn’t happy at all. Fans weren’t happy either. Russ earned a nickname and fans chanted “Westbrick” every time he made the floor.

So, who is responsible for this mess? Rob Pelinka didn’t trade Russ at the deadline.

Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report says the Lakers front office is “internally blaming pressure” from Klutch Sports Group for the bad trade.

“Upon the urging of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the franchise traded its championship depth for Russell Westbrook, yet the three stars still ended up with an extended vacation,” Pincus wrote. “After the season concluded, Davis said he would meet with James to ‘reevaluate in the offseason. Upstairs, me and him, talking about the season and what we’d like to see next season.’

“Ideally, their suggestions to the Lakers’ front office will be better than acquiring Westbrook. But James certainly has a strong influence on the Lakers’ decision-making. Multiple sources indicate the team’s front office is internally blaming pressure from Klutch Sports Group (representing both James and Davis) for Westbrook.”

LeBron James to support the Russell Westbrook trade… Again

Wojnarowski shared details of the meeting between Pelinka and Rich Paul. LeBron’s agent said his superstar won’t leave the team in free agency.

“In the aftermath of LeBron James’ public comments on a possible return to Cleveland and media reports describing his agency’s displeasure with the organization, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul met with Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and general manager Rob Pelinka on Tuesday, insisting that there’s no movement underway to seek management changes and that he believes there’s a shared accountability for the franchise’s disappointing season, sources told ESPN,” Wojnarowski reported in February.

“Paul — whose agency represents stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis — made it clear that James’ primary objective is remaining a Laker and the goal now ought to be to finish the season as strong as possible and then regroup in the offseason and work on ways to improve the team, sources said.”

LeBron was really unhappy with Westbrook’s performance. He couldn’t even control his body language throughout the season. Westbrook made too many mistakes. He even deleted the photos of him wearing a Lakers uniform.