Russell Westbrook did not want to play defense, he still thinks he’s an MVP candidate – Dan Patrick

NBA analyst Dan Patrick reckons the LA Lakers will need to come up with a better strategy if they are to go all the way in the upcoming season. The Lakers had a horrid run in the previous season of the league as they could not even qualify for the play-in tournament.

Patrick feels the Lakers need to be less reliant on the shoulders of LeBron James and Russell Westbrook will have to come up with an improved show. Patrick believes Westbrook was not a good team man and blamed him for the Lakers’ poor show.

On the Dan Patrick Show, he said, I don’t want LeBron being the guy saying ‘hey, we got to play defense’ at his age. I want the younger guys saying it’s up to us to be aggressive on defense, to play better, to want to play defense

“Russell Westbrook did not want to play defense, didn’t fight through screens, didn’t listen to Frank Vogel. He was not a good teammate and they did try to get rid of him but who’s going to want him?

“If Russ doesn’t realize that he needs to be more like Andre Iguodala then he’s going to have a hard time finding a new team, but if he does reinvent himself as a guy who’s willing to go hustle, play defense, do the dirty work.”

The upcoming season will be the last for Westbrook as per his contract.

“He still thinks he’s an MVP candidate and those numbers are hollow. When he’s averaging 18, 8, and 7, those are good numbers, they are, but if you do a deep dive on those numbers, they’re not good at all.”

Meanwhile, Russell Westbrook averaged 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 7.1 assists in 78 games in the previous season and he will be looking to come up with a much-improved show.

The team will begin its NBA campaign against the Golden State Warriors on the 19th of October.