The Los Angeles Lakers, according to NBA commentator and former player Kendrick Perkins, are “punishing” LeBron James for the Russell Westbrook trade.

“It almost feels like, in my opinion, that Rob Pelinka and Jeanie Buss is punishing LeBron James for the Russell Westbrook trade,” Perkins said. “Meaning, ‘you played a huge part in getting Russell Westbrook here. And we know we have these two draft picks, and we’re not going to trade ’em because you wanted him. You wanted him ‘Bron. So now you have to deal with it.’”

The Russell Westbrook trade hasn’t panned out how the Lakers initially hoped. Westbrook has performed fairly well in a bench role this season, but the Lakers acquired him to be a star alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. In all fairness, AD has battled injury concerns once again during the 2022-2023 campaign.

Nevertheless, the Russell Westbrook trade hasn’t helped matters. The Lakers don’t have much room for error amid their underwhelming season.

LA is aiming to reach the play-in games at the very least. Missing the NBA Playoffs in back-to-back seasons with LeBron James on the roster would be unacceptable and could lead to a trade request from LeBron.

It will be interesting to see if the Lakers respond to Kendrick Perkins’ claim. Although it wouldn’t seem likely that they are “punishing” LeBron James, he was a driving factor behind the Russell Westbrook trade. And one can only wonder where the team would be right now if the Westbrook deal never came to fruition.

Source: https://clutchpoints.com