The Lakers front office had one primary job entering the offseason: move on from Russell Westbrook. After a disastrous 2021-22 season that saw the team finish in 11th place — behind a team that was a seller at the trade deadline — and culminated with Westbrook blaming everyone but himself in his exit interview, it seemed unfeasible that he would ever suit up for the Los Angeles Lakers again.
And yet, less than three weeks before the start of the training camp, the national consensus is that is exactly what will happen. Perhaps the Lakers have softened on Westbrook’s comments after months to reflect, or they believe injuries were the true culprit of last season’s failure.