During an interview with Dime Magazine, retired NBA player-turned-TNT analyst Shaquille O’Neal was asked what went wrong for point guard Russell Westbrook with the Los Angeles Lakers:
“I don’t think it was his age,” O’Neal said. “I think he was just, and I say this respectfully, I just think he was showing too much respect. I don’t care who I’m playing with it, I’m giving you 28. Fans pay a lot of money for me to make $100 million, I’m giving you 28. It’s not, ‘Every time I get the ball, look for the other stars.’ He can play, too, so when I got the ball, I’m gonna do my thing. I can’t do my thing, I’m looking for him. That’s how you got to play. You just can’t concede all the time – here, here, here. Nah, throw me the ball, let me go to work. I gotta average 28 and 15 for personals reason and for these fans.
“He was just being too nice. I don’t know the relationship between him and LeBron, but if you put that down on paper and I don’t know nothing about basketball, that’s a hell of a backcourt, Russell Westbrook and LeBron James. Why it didn’t work, I don’t know, but watching him play, he was super passive. I don’t need you to be passive, I need you to play your game. I’ll be calling plays, when you get the ball after they miss a shot, run, if you ain’t got nothin, pull it out, give it to LeBron, and call some plays. That’s how it was me, he was just thinking too much. He’s a guy that, when he plays freely, he’s a monster.”
