When the Los Angeles Lakers made the trade for Russell Westbrook during the 2021 offseason, the expectation was that he would form a ‘Big 3’ alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Instead, the Lakers ended up missing the playoffs during Westbrook’s first season with the team, and by his second season, he found himself traded.
While countless think pieces have been done since then with everyone chiming in with an opinion as to why Russell Westbrook didn’t work out with the Lakers, Trevor Ariza, who was on the team’s roster in Westbrook’s first year with the organization, had this simple response as to why things went south, as per Bleacher Report.
“Everbody’s old as s**t on the team,” Ariza recalled.
That Lakers team’s average age was 30-years-old, making them the oldest team in the NBA that season. In addition to their age conundrum, Ariza also believed the roster didn’t have the proper spacing and wasn’t suited for Westbrook’s game.
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Westbrook appeared in 78 games during his first season with the Lakers, at a little over 34 minutes per game. He averaged 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 1.0 steals with splits of 44.4 percent shooting from the field, 29.8 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 66.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
The following season, he appeared in 52 games at a little over 28 minutes per game. He averaged 15.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 1.0 steals with splits of 41.7 percent shooting from the field, 29.6 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 65.5 percent shooting from free-throw line.
Westbrook was traded to the Utah Jazz ahead of the deadline that season, and then joined the LA Clippers after agreeing to a contract buyout.
When the Los Angeles Lakers made the trade for Russell Westbrook during the 2021 offseason, the expectation was that he would form a ‘Big 3’ alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Instead, the Lakers ended up missing the playoffs during Westbrook’s first season with the team, and by his second season, he found himself traded.