Russell Westbrook postgame: “Westbrick” is shaming my name, my legacy for my kids.

[OkcSinceSGA]

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Lakers fans breaking down the mental toughness of the Westbrook family. He’s worried his name will now be used to clown his kids etc. Sadly if you play in NY or LA you gotta expect some harassment if you suck. Guess when he says “I will make sure I address it” going forward, we can expect him to continue tossing fans out of games.

[Reeko]

I understand where he's coming from, as a human. He's proud of his name, as he should be, but being that he's a public figure and people like Skip Bayless are out there publicly criticizing and mocking him, there's very little recourse for him to put an end to all of this.

[Sedale Threatt]

He can always give the money back.

If people are legit harassing his family, especially to the level of death threats as his wife was apparently referencing, that's obviously way, way over the line. Criminal. Anyone who does that is a loser to the core of their being.

But when he says, "When it comes to basketball I don’t mind the criticism of missing and making shots," he's completely full of crap. He's always been sensitive -- witness how he reacted to even light beef from OKC's press corp, which isn't exactly hardcore -- and this is just the latest instance. So suck it up, or stop sucking.

[LukaTheGOAT]

They’re safer at home lol u never know where a Westbrook shot could end up.

Seriously though, I hope things get better for him and his family, and the death threats are stopped IMMEDIATELY. Furthermore, I hope they learn to ignore comments from people such as myself who make jokes as a way to entertain ourselves.

[Kilroy]

How bout getting up some more shots...

[SUPERVILLAIN]

[shangrila]

To be fair, I don't think anyone wants to go to Lakers home games anymore. Unless you're a fan of whoever they're playing.

But seriously, a lot of this is self inflicted. That Westbrick name has floated around since the KD-OKC era, so it's nothing new. The reason it's reached a crescendo now, especially from home town fans, is that he's not a good player anymore but still tries to act like he is.

Be willing to adjust your game, commit on the defensive end and I imagine this talk goes away for the most part.

[JimmyPlopper]

I feel for Russ and his family. Anyone who expressed similar sentiments and then wrote "But..." in their post should think again

[NyKnicks1714]

Obviously if death threats are being made to him and/or his family, that's awful and criminal...but everyone agrees on that.

Let's talk about "Westbrick" though. Is that really the one thing bothering him re: fan criticism? I do 100% believe that the mockery of his name does hurt and bother him, but what I don't believe is that he's cool with critiques and mockery that don't involve his name.

[Bologna Smasher]

I can understand the shaming part, but him coming out and acknowledging it and saying he's going to "nip it in the bud" is just going to make it worse, unfortunately.

[Oscar9992]

Feel bad for him, but he makes $40 millions per year. Life is good for him.

[zeebneeb]

Russ has gone from MVP, to a meme essentially so that's got to be mentally brutal.

I am unsure how he can rebuild his image being on the downside of his career, and very unlikely to play for a contender again.

One things for sure, talking about it in this manner is probably not a good way to shift attention from it, as It may actually intensify it because the type of fan who knows this gets to him, will absolutely use it during games, and it could become an even bigger story.

Tough spot to be in.

[Sedale Threatt]

Obviously if death threats are being made to him and/or his family, that's awful and criminal...but everyone agrees on that.

Let's talk about "Westbrick" though. Is that really the one thing bothering him re: fan criticism? I do 100% believe that the mockery of his name does hurt and bother him, but what I don't believe is that he's cool with critiques and mockery that don't involve his name.

What he's mad at is that he's played poorly all year, it's been an incredibly frustrating experience for everyone, and fans have responded in kind. I don't expect him to like that. But I guarantee you, in the history of professional sports, whatever he's dealing with is around a 2 or 3 out of 10 on the fan obnoxiousness scale. You've been bad, and you're being ripped. Stop the presses.

I don't go to Lakers games as I live across the country, but I've watched a metric sht ton over the years and Lakers fans are generally mild-mannered. The last guy I can really remember them going in on was Kwame Brown back in the 00s. The common denominator: they were both bad players, or rather, they weren't coming anywhere close to hopes/expectations.

[Sedale Threatt]

Feel bad for him, but he makes $40 millions per year. Life is good for him.

As a PR director for an NBA team once told me: Never, ever feel bad for these guys. And he was a die-hard company man.

[CIN-C-STAR]

This guy is so sensitive
He doesn't think people should be allowed to call him "Westbrick"? He's trying to humor police all of NBA fandom now
Didn't he also get the long-time OKC broadcaster fired for saying "He's playing out of his cotton-picking mind", even though the man said there was no racial implication, he had no history of racist comments or incidents, and research hasn't showed the phrase is linked with slavery but rather just a way to say something is very difficult?
But none of that mattered because it made Westbrook uncomfortable so the guy got fired, or rather, some kind of "mutual agreement" shortly followed iirc
He also smacked a phone out of a fans hands and then tried to say they said something to provoke him but the phone was recording and the fan released the video and it just showed Westbrook overreacting to being filmed
Hasn't he also harassed and bullied a bunch of sports reporters who were, like him, just doing their job?
If this guy could get over himself he could still be a good player, but he clearly hasn't. He wants everything on his terms, even how fans discuss his play!
Gimme a break

[NZB2323]

I feel really bad for Westbrook's kids. Unless your father made hundreds of millions of dollars to be an entertainer who occasionally got criticized from media members and fans, you have no idea what they are going through.

[Sedale Threatt]

I mean, I'm supposed to pity this dude when he's making more than $40 million and pulling sht like this? FOH

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[Statlanta]

Even at his best he was never known for being an efficient scorer. The nickname is as apt as the triple double king is for Westbrook.

[Kobe187]

LeBron James.. where superstars go to die. Lol not sure what it is but every great player’s play seems to decline instead of being elevated after playing with him. In all seriousness feel bad for Westbrook, he’s a hell of an athlete and a great player but has been utilized horrendously by the Lakers. He’s taken so much criticism and blame for the Lakers struggles. The game was absolutely winnable today, why didn’t LeBron play? He could’ve played limited minutes and the Lakers could’ve gotten the W, he could’ve rested in blow out games instead of subbing back in and shouldn’t be taking games off during the stretch drive with the Lakers trying to make the playoffs. The whole team is a mess culture and chemistry wise.

[Blame Rasho]

You know some fans are horrible… and it should be addressed by arena officials.

Anyways Westbrook reminds me of how roy jones jr was after his ko from tarver. In the third fight, Larry merchant said… he just doesn’t have it in him anymore. He tired to be who he was but he couldn’t let his hands go. He wasn’t special anymore.

You look at Westbrook and right now with his current physical talents, if placed in the nba draft he would still be a lottery pick. It just that he physically can’t do things anymore like he used to. He doesn’t have the insight to know his current limitations. He still has a great motor but his role has to be changed. I know we all have seen the meme, “I am a point guard… not a pass guard.”Well he really need to check his shot selection and pass. I know it must be hard for him to go 100% and then realize it isn’t enough and even worse, he umm sucks. Players know when they lose a step and the ego that made him a mvp player is also the one that his hindering him from playing better because in his mind, he is still the alpha male in a game.