Lakers jersey history No. 0 — Russell Westbrook
As the Lakers approach their 80th season of existence (they were founded back in 1946 as the Detroit Gems in the National Basketball League), LeBron Wire is taking a look at each player who has worn their jersey, whether it has been a purple and gold one or the ones they donned back in the Midwest during their early years.
We will now take a look at Russell Westbrook, who had a brief and controversial stint with the Lakers.
Westbrook grew up in the Southland and attended Leuzinger High School in Lawndale, and he played two years of college basketball at the University of California, Los Angeles. While in college, he was named the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year in 2008.
The quick, ultra-athletic guard was the No. 4 overall pick in a talented 2008 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, who became the Oklahoma City Thunder shortly afterward. Along with Kevin Durant and fellow L.A. native James Harden, Westbrook became a major part of a young Thunder squad that seemed poised to take over the NBA.
But after it lost to LeBron James' Miami Heat in the 2012 NBA Draft, Harden was traded to the Houston Rockets. Four years later, Durant joined the Golden State Warriors, and Westbrook was left to carry Oklahoma City by himself.
Well, he certainly tried. During the 2016-17 season, he became the second NBA player and first in over half a century to average a triple-double for an entire season. He would end up averaging a triple-double four times in five years, even after he was traded to the Houston Rockets in 2019 and the Washington Wizards in 2020.
The Lakers dealt Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell and Isaiah Jackson to get Westbrook in the summer of 2021, apparently at the behest of LeBron James. The trade quickly became an unmitigated disaster. It was bad enough that Westbrook didn't fit in alongside James and Anthony Davis, but L.A. also gave up several serviceable players to get him, and to this day, it has therefore lacked tradeable assets.
The decision was quickly made to trade Westbrook, and Lakers fans heavily scapegoated him. Executive Rob Pelinka was patient, and he eventually dealt Westbrook in February 2023, along with a 2027 first-round draft pick, in a three-team trade that brought them guard D'Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley.
Westbrook ended up averaging 17.4 points, 7.2 assists and 6.9 rebounds a game as a member of the Lakers. He joined the Los Angeles Clippers after the Lakers traded him and played one and a half seasons there before spending this past season with the Denver Nuggets.
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USA Today
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- USA Today
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Odds are, though, that several teams will be in line to add him with a larger contract and a more significant role. That's the reality of the NBA business. Oh well. The Thunder will cross that bridge when they get there. For next season, both parties would benefit if Hartenstein has another superb season. For OKC, that increases its odds of repeating as NBA champion. For Hartenstein, that increases his next paycheck. Final Grade: A-plus
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