Nuggets’ Russell Westbrook sends NSFW message to Lakers fans after dagger

Russell Westbrook’s stint with the Los Angeles Lakers was less than ideal, to say the least. And while Westbrook is nearly two years away from donning the purple and gold, the former MVP let Lakers fans have it during the Denver Nuggets’ 127-102 victory last night.

In the midst of a dominant second half in which Denver outscored Los Angeles 70-39, Westbrook hit a three-pointer, turned to the crowd and yelled, “Bum, bra!”.

It was the only triple for Westbrook on the night, but he was otherwise effective in 24 minutes of play; off the bench he tallied 14 points, 7 rebounds, 11 assists and a steal.

Saturday’s big win as a member of the Nuggets was Westbrook’s sixth game against the Lakers since the team traded him for the 2022-23 season. The first five games came with the Lakers’ crosstown rivals, the Clippers, with whom Westbrook signed after being traded by the Lakers to the Utah Jazz and reaching a buyout with Utah.

Russell Westbrook’s tenuous past with the Lakers

Westbrook was drafted fourth overall in 2008 by the Seattle SuperSonics, who would become the Oklahoma City Thunder before Westbrook’s rookie season. He found great success in OKC, winning the 2017 NBA Most Valuable Player Award and earning seven All-NBA selections in 11 seasons.

After brief stints with the Houston Rockets and Washington Wizards, Westbrook, a Long Beach native who attended UCLA, returned to Los Angeles via a trade from Washington to the Lakers.

The move, reportedly pushed hard by LeBron James, didn’t go nearly as well as the Lakers had hoped. Westbrook was heavily criticized for his play and the Lakers missed the playoffs.

As Westbrook began the following season with the Lakers, he came off the bench for the first time in more than a decade. Still, the team’s performance left much to be desired, and Westbrook was eventually traded before the trade deadline.

While it’s still possible that there are hard feelings, both the Lakers and Westbrook fared relatively well after the trade; Los Angeles became one of the best teams in the NBA, reaching the Western Conference Finals for the first time since winning a championship in 2020. For his part, Westbrook found a groove with the Clippers, although postseason success eluded him and his new team as a result of injuries to Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

During the last offseason, Westbrook picked up a $4 million player option before being traded to the Jazz for a second time. He was quickly waived by the Jazz, paving the way for him to join three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets on a two-year minimum contract.

So far with Denver, Westbrook is averaging 11.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 6.2 assists in nearly 25 minutes per game. match. In addition, his three-point percentage (35.8%) is currently the highest mark of his career.

Westbrook and the Nuggets next face the Lakers, who have lost 13 of their last 14, against Denver on Feb. 22.