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Lets say everything else stays the same, you just replace Kobe with Westbrook on all his teams (i.e WB playing with Shaq/Pau etc). How many rings would Westbrook have? We're starting by replacing 1st year Kobe with 1st year WB, and then having his career go from there.

Between zero and one.

He wouldn’t have won any with Gasol and probably would have cost Shaq at least 2 titles.

Westbrook is a phenomenal talent but simply doesn’t make smart, winning plays when it counts. That’s always been his Achilles heel. Kobe has a selfish streak too but was a winning player.

One just based off how good Shaq was. Russ has deveveloped as a passer and if you put prime/peak Russ with prime peak Shaq then you'd get 2/3. But the hypo puts younger russ w peak Shaq

If WB and Shaq could stay together unlike Kobe and Shaq, then the number might go up (not relative to Kobe's five, but relative to what WB could do in fewer years with Shaq).

I'll just go with 2, though.

Considering Westbrook has always understood who is the best player on the team and willing to defer to them and elevate them (see Durant, George, Harden and Beal having some of their best years with him) I would say at least 3. While he couldn't be as dominant as Bryant on 2nd set of championships he would be a better player to elevate Gasol. Also it's safe to assume he would never hit heads as hard as Kobe and Shaq did. So 3 maybe 4. Westbrook is just remotely not as capable scorer (or defender early years) as Bryant, but makes up some of that ground with superior playmaking that Laker teams never really had.

maybe Shaq could carry him to 2, max.

JN61 wrote:Considering Westbrook has always understood who is the best player on the team and willing to defer to them and elevate them (see Durant, George, Harden and Beal having some of their best years with him) I would say at least 3. While he couldn't be as dominant as Bryant on 2nd set of championships he would be a better player to elevate Gasol. Also it's safe to assume he would never hit heads as hard as Kobe and Shaq did. So 3 maybe 4. Westbrook is just remotely not as capable scorer (or defender early years) as Bryant, but makes up some of that ground with superior playmaking that Laker teams never really had.

I like this take. I think Pau is one of those guys who, if he had played with a pass first guard, likely would have been 1x MVP and would have been the 'go-to-guy' for one title. WB is better in the era of midrange shots than he is now.

1 with shaq . He can’t shoot which engage hack the shaq mode for other teams . People forget how many shots kobe made when shaq kicked it out to him. Prime brook would win 1 and that’s it. Current brook would win zero

Russ is an absolutely terrible fit with Shaq, I'd go one just because Shaq was so dominant but that's about it

russ would of had shaq averaging between 20-25rebs from all his brick shot misses on the offensive glass

1 minimum with Shaq.
Shaq would have to be on point (not position) every playoff game to have success with Russ.

The player Shaq wishes he could have played with is Allen Iverson. The regret he has is not making it work with Kobe so they could have more success together.

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2-3

A Shaq year is a given no repeats though. I think Jerry West retools to cover WB’s gaps

Anyone who voted 5 should be banned from talking about basketball. Not just here either.

1, in 2000

I'm laughing at the thought of him trying to make it work with Pau, Bynum, Odom clogging the paint. Or in the triangle in general. Pau would be far and away the best player on that team, and you don't win a title like that.

What if you replaced Westbrook with Kobe and he either grew up with a young Durant, Harden, and Ibaka, or you mapped his 2009 version to the 2009 Thunder? Interesting thought experiment. You would probably have Harden run point and have Kobe be SG, Durant SF.

I voted two, Shaq was incredibly dominant, and while I understand you get e-points for hating on Russ and acting as if he's the worst player ever, he still could help Shaq win a few, especially considering his gameplay is much more suited for that era of basketball.

JN61 wrote:Considering Westbrook has always understood who is the best player on the team and willing to defer to them and elevate them (see Durant, George, Harden and Beal having some of their best years with him) I would say at least 3.

I noticed youre an OKC fan. Are you ironic here?

Three, but all obtained while on the IR list because Shaq belted him during the reg season, so he didnt actually play in the finals

2001, they wouldn't get past the Blazers in 2000 or the Kings in 2002, it was extremely close with Kobe. I don't think he would've won anything with Pau/Odom.

KhalilS wrote:2001, they wouldn't get past the Blazers in 2000 or the Kings in 2002, it was extremely close with Kobe. I don't think he would've won anything with Pau/Odom.

This has been overlooked. The West Conference Finals were essentially the real finals during Kobe and Shaq's runs where Bryant had some really monster series, especially given stats were harder to come by during that era.

Keep in mind kobes era with shaq and gasol was before the 3 point /advanced stats explosion. There were a number of inefficient guards. Westbrook would do better based on the low volume of 3 point shooting alone


He also was a better and positive player in his okc days than now

I see him with at least 2-3