On an increasingly common Wednesday, the Los Angeles Lakers lost. This time they were dominated by the Minnesota Timberwolves 124-104, and Lakers defenseman Russell Westbrook disapproved of their attitude during the rout. The Timberwolves were seen talking quite a bit of nonsense to the Lakers, and while Westbrook denied it was directed at him, he went out of his way to remind the Timberwolves of where he sees them in the league’s pecking order.
“To be honest, I don’t pay attention to it. Maybe other guys (do). “They didn’t talk to me. They talked to separate guys, but the trashbolt doesn’t bother me. No one has done anything in this league,” Westbrook said, holding back a laugh. – Everything is fine. They are good. They won the game, happy for them, (I) move on to the next one. Nothing to do about.”
Timberwolves defenseman Patrick Beverley diplomatically responded to the post-game press conference: “That’s his point of view. I mean, Russ is a great player, a phenomenal player in this league. where… if I’m in LA, I try not to go out because I have Russ the next day. So I go to bed early, you know, looking forward to this match. From that point of view, that’s his opinion, of course.”
Beverly added that the Wolves are “trying to get where Russ was. He was in the final. LeBron won championships. So we’re trying to get those places.” He then tweeted this, referring to his personal resume:
(The Beverleys have made the playoffs every year of his career, with the exception of the 2017-18 season, in which he had knee surgery and only played 11 games.)
Most of Westbrook’s quote was pretty innocuous, but suggesting that Minnesota players are somehow disqualified from talking nonsense because of his perception of their accomplishments in the NBA shows a startling lack of self-awareness. The Timberwolves have won 12 more games than the Lakers. The two teams played four times, with the Timberwolves leading the Lakers by 57 points in those games. The Timberwolves are way better than the Lakers right now. Westbrook does not acknowledge this. Instead, he holds on to his past praises for dear life. This is a reasonable standard on his part. Averaging a career-worst team stat well below .500 doesn’t give him the right to talk nonsense himself. The past is all he has at this stage of his career.
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Westbrook spent the season clinging to the idea that his former MVP status freed him from the dirty work the Lakers would have required of him to win. He keeps making wrong shots and flips the ball. His defensive efforts are as limited as ever, and he has done little to become a scorer without the ball on a team that already has LeBron James. When the Lakers blamed these shortcomings on him by sending him to the bench at the end of a few fourth quarters, he again relied on his past accomplishments. “I don’t need to reach the standard. Or I shouldn’t,” Westbrook said in February. “I have earned the right to be in the final squad. I mean, the numbers will tell you. I don’t need to explain it.”
No member of the Timberwolves has achieved as much in the NBA as Westbrook. Maybe that’s part of what made them so successful this season. The team has a lot of young talent, but unlike the Lakers, their players consciously work on their shortcomings. Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell are former All-Stars with maximum contracts. They both have the best defensive seasons of their careers. They’re focused on winning, and right now that’s more meaningful than anything Westbrook is doing in what increasingly looks like his last few years in the NBA.