‘It’s Really Weighing on My Family’

Russell Westbrook is not any stranger to criticism, having confronted a lot since he first stepped into the League because the fourth total choose of the 2008 NBA Draft.

There have been excessive expectations for the Lakers (28-36) this season, particularly with the addition of Westbrook. Westbrook’s efficiency, specifically, has turn out to be the topic of fixed critique and scrutiny. The criticism has gotten to a degree the place his spouse, Nina, stood up for him on social media after Skip Bayless, co-host of Skip & Shannon: Undisputed on Fox Sports activities 1, referred to Westbrook as “Westbrick.”

After the Lakers misplaced to the Spurs on Monday, 117-110, Russ mentioned he felt it was obligatory to guard his final title and the legacy that comes with it after he and his spouse had been informed at a parent-teacher convention that his son, Noah, was happy with his final title and tells everybody, “I’m a Westbrook. That’s my final title.”

“It hit me, like rattling. I can now not permit folks—saying Westbrick, for example—shaming my title. My title is a legacy for my children. It’s a reputation meaning extra not simply to me, however to my spouse, my mother, my dad. Those that form of paved the way in which for me,” Westbrook mentioned. “That’s only one instance. It form of hit myself and my spouse in a spot the place it’s not nice, man. And I believe lots of occasions I let it slide, however now I have to put a cease to that and placed on discover that there’s a distinction, and each time I do hear it now I’ll ensure that I handle it and ensure that I nip that within the bud.”

“I stand behind my spouse with how she’s feeling…it’s reached a degree the place it’s actually weighing on my household.” @russwest44 shares his ideas on the feedback made by his spouse saying she and her household are “harassed each day”. pic.twitter.com/ize5TLvVnb

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) March 8, 2022

Whereas it’s evident that the season hasn’t gone as deliberate, Westbrook has cemented himself as one of many all-time best basketball gamers after turning into synonymous with the triple-double, successful an MVP, sticking with the Thunder for 11 seasons, and serving to to make them a Finals look in 2012.

The Lakers will tackle the Houston Rockets on Thursday.