Inside The Celtics

LeBron James claps back at Celtics broadcast for Russell Westbrook comments

James called them out for saying that he was responsible for how things went south when Westbrook played for the Lakers.

Matt John

LeBron James
LeBron James / Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images
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During the Boston Celtics preseason debut against the Denver Nuggets, Celtics alum and color commentator Brian Scalabrine voiced his support for Russell Westbrook in hoping that he'll do some damage to the Los Angeles Lakers when those teams match up after all that happened when Westbrook was in LA.

"I'll tell you what. I am rooting for him to make nine threes against the Lakers because he got a lot of heat for that. That was a disaster team and he got all the heat for the whole thing, so I'm kind of hoping that he can make a bunch of threes against that team."

Celtics play by play broadcaster Drew Carter proceeded to respond facetiously to Scalabrine's sentiment.

"You're telling me one of LeBron's teammates became a scapegoat out of nowhere? Are you kidding?"

James got wind of what the two had said, and took to his X account to respond to what they had said about Westbrook's time with the Lakers.

"Took a trip all the way to Abu Dhabi to be on my.....Eat some breakfast first! Anyways Brodie a LEGEND." James wrote with a salute emoji.

James deserves the benefit of the doubt when he says that he has nothing against Westbrook because James has been regarded as a good teammate. Even if the Lakers' experiment with Westbrook was a disaster, it makes sense that James still respects one of the best players that played at the same time as him even if they didn't work well together as teammates.

However, that doesn't detract from that the fact that this has been a running theme with teams led by LeBron. If one particular player on James' team is not holding up his end which, by extension, leads to team struggles, said player will get the lion's share of the blame.

In Miami, the scapegoat was Chris Bosh. In Cleveland, the scapegoat was Kevin Love. In Los Angeles, the scapegoat was Westbrook.

For what it's worth, this pattern doesn't reflect too badly on LeBron because at the end of the day, this pattern materializes because he demands excellence from everyone. As arguably the best basketball player of all time who was won plenty throughout his NBA career, he's earned the right to expect the best from his teammates for the team to succeed.

It's not LeBron's fault Westbrook was a dud with the Lakers, but it doesn't change the fact that Westbrook's struggles made him another a fall guy in a long list of falls guys who have played next to LeBron for the last 20-plus years.

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Matt John
MATT JOHN

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