Lakers: Russell Westbrook Opens Up About Harassment From Fans in Los Angeles

Lakers star Russell Westbrook spoke in-depth about how difficult it has been playing here, and how his family has been treated along the way.

Los Angeles has always been a very tough place to play professional sports. All across the city, fans have just come to expect more from their players and teams. That is especially true with the Lakers since they came out west. 

Russell Westbrook is right in the middle of experiencing that for the first time in his professional career. The UCLA product has struggled greatly since his trade from the Wizards last summer, and it's starting to get to him.

After a loss to the Spurs on Monday night, Russ spoke in depth about the verbal abuse he and his family have endured while in Los Angeles. It was the first time with the Lakers that Russ was very open and honest, and it was sort of heartbreaking to hear what he and his family have had to go through. 

"I don't want to even bring my kids to that game because I don't want my kids to hear their dad getting called names. Right now, she's[his wife] reached a point and my family have reached a point where it's really weighing on them."

The tweets that Westbrook is referring to came from his wife Nina. She spoke about death threats their family has received from the Lakers fanbase, and she talked about him playing on another team at one point. 

When I’m being harassed on a daily basis over basketball games, and I’m having obscenity’s and death wishes for me and my family sent my way because you’re expressing your “truth”, it’s hard for me to get on board with that.

— Nina Westbrook (@ninawestbrook) March 7, 2022

Brodie also spoke about nicknames like 'Westbrick' being something that has bothered him since coming out here. The former league MVP is shooting a very low 43.3 percent from the field and 28.2 percent from beyond the arc. It's been rough for him.

Russ' tone suggests that rumors he would like to leave the Lakers this offseason actually do carry some weight. He also made it clear that he wasn't going to let those comments slide anymore, getting into it with fans in the stands during the loss to the Spurs. 

Remember, these are humans too. And while they make way more money than any of us, we will all always do whatever we can to protect our families.