The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the San Antonio Spurs on Monday and another one to the Houston Rockets two days later. The purple and gold army played without LeBron James. While King James being absent is something new, Russell Westbrook having a bad night is on the contrary.
While fans have been giving him much heat on court, things are reaching a step too far. Given that Westbrook has not been able to regain his reputation, fans have begun to attack his family. The former MVP responded.
Russell Westbrook's necklace has the first letters of his family's names on it: Nina, Noah, Jordyn and Skye, and he says he stands behind his wife's tweets.
"Right now, she's reached a point and my family have reached a point where it's really weighing on them." pic.twitter.com/P7fqm42Hzz
— Harrison Faigen (@hmfaigen) March 8, 2022
Westbrook’s response to hate taunts
While LeBron James scored 56 points in a game against the Warriors, he surely showed off the consistency of his performance. Similar to Tuesday’s games where LeBron was sidelined to soreness in the left knee, the Lakers cannot simply rely on only one person.
On the contrary, the team must get it back together if they still want to hold on to the team’s reputation. It will include having Westbrook step it up.
The 33-year point guard has been receiving boos from fans. Coming off an impressive performance with the Washington Wizards, Russ has been disappointing with the Lakers. He soon became the villain in fans’ eyes. However, fans took it too far when they involve Westbrook’s family.
Westbrook’s wife, Nina felt that she was harassed on a daily basis. She is well aware of her husband’s nickname “Westbrick” and thought of it to be “childish”.
Most fans and followers might not have thought about it too deeply on the effects that could be brought to Westbrook’s family when they call out names to Westbrook’s poor performance. However, to his family, it felt like an insult.
“Right now, she’s reached a point and my family have reached a point where it’s really weighing on them,” Westbrook responded in an open conference.
The former Wizards guard is averaging 18.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 7.2 assists, which is one of the lowest numbers he has put up with since 2014.
“It’s shaming my name, my legacy for my kids. It’s a name that means, not just to me, but to my wife, to my mom, my dad, the ones that kind of paved the way for me. That’s just one example.”
“That kind of hit myself and my wife in a place where it’s not great. A lot of times, I let it slide. But now it’s time to put a stop to that and put it on notice.”
Stephen A. Smith’s take on this matter
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith once had been on a constant fire with Westbrook for his terrible performances. Smith even made statements on camera stating that Westbrook doesn’t deserve to be a Laker. However, in this Westbrook family matter, he even felt that this was not the right thing to do. At a conference with Kendrick Perkins, he expressed his empathy.
“My heart goes out to Mrs. Westbrook and their children. There’s no excuse for this. There are some despicable, reprehensible people in this world who will use every excuse under the sun to spew venom and beyond. Death wishes to a wife and a family. When you consider the times we’re living in, the fact that anybody would do something like that, it’s terrorizing.”
“Russell Westbrook shouldn’t be threatened, Russell Westbrook shouldn’t have to deal with his family being threatened. You being heckled as a basketball player is not beyond the scope.”
Smith believed that Westbrook being a heckled player is upon himself, but the harassment is unnecessary, especially when it involved family members.