Will Smith appearance at Lakers practice fueled Russell Westbrook’s frustration with LeBron James, per report

The Lakers trading for Russell Westbrook in the summer of 2021 served as a multiyear setback to the franchise’s hopes of winning a second title with LeBron James. 

Westbrook arrived with the Lakers hoping to form a Big 3 with LeBron and Anthony Davis, and apparently was the choice of James to fill the point guard spot in Los Angeles. However, it didn’t take long for it to be clear that on-court marriage was going to fail, and the relationship between James and Westbrook deteriorated quickly. 

After a disastrous 2021-22 season, the Lakers were determined to try and run it back in 2022-23, but Westbrook and James were at odds and a new anecdote from Yaron Weitzman’s upcoming book “A Hollywood Ending: The Dreams and Drama of the LeBron Lakers” published in The Ringer details how bad things got. 

According to Weitzman, the two were barely on speaking terms coming into the ’22-23 season after the rumors James wanted the Lakers to trade Russ for Kyrie Irving, and Westbrook’s frustration with how James went about his business in L.A. came to a head in the strangest of times — a Will Smith speaking appearance at Lakers practice.

The full story is worth reading here, but effectively, Westbrook took serious issue with what he felt was James acting fake once Smith arrived.

That’s because prior to Smith coming to speak to the team, James and Davis left and Westbrook asked if the rest of the team could leave too. He was informed by Patrick Beverley that wasn’t the case and that LeBron and AD got preferential treatment. That led to an argument and eventually coach Darvin Ham brought James and Davis back in and then Smith was brought in to speak. 

When they all returned, Smith was greeted with smiles and daps. Smith talked to the players about his new movie, Emancipation. He talked about overcoming adversity. He cracked some jokes at the team’s expense. Then he opened the floor for questions.

LeBron was first. He had a question, he said. Smith answered. Then LeBron had another question. And another after that and another after that and another after that. On and on he went, stretching what was supposed to be a 30-minute session into nearly an hour.

“The same guy who was trying to leave is now quoting back movie lines and going through the guy’s whole life story,” one attendee recalled thinking. Seated in the third row, picking at a bowl of fruit, Westbrook watched in disbelief, shaking his head and rolling his eyes every time LeBron spoke.

I hate that fake shit, Westbrook said to a teammate afterward, as the Lakers gathered for a team photo. I just can’t do it.

It’s a tremendous story and points to the dysfunction and frustration that defined that Lakers team. Westbrook’s tenure in L.A. was short, but that year and a half was a drama-filled disaster in which all parties involved shared responsibility for their collective failure. 

The Lakers traded two key contributors from their 2020 title team, Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and a first round pick to Washington for Westbrook. Those players and picks were among their best trade chips, and it took until last season for L.A. to have the ammunition and willfulness to pull the trigger on another big move — a much better trade to bring in Luka Dončić. 

Westbrook, for his part, was not good on the court. His second season in L.A. prior to being traded to the Jazz was the least efficient shooting season since his rookie year, and his two seasons with the Lakers were two of the only four seasons of his career (along with his rookie year and 2024-25 in Denver) that he produced negative offensive win shares. 

Those struggles weren’t hard to see coming, though, as Westbrook profiled as a poor fit with LeBron and AD given he was never a good perimeter shooter, yet the Lakers ignored those red flags to bring him in anyways without a clear plan on how to maximize the skillset he does have. LeBron shares culpability as well for stumping for Westbrook in the initial trade despite the questionable fit.

All told, the Westbrook era set the Lakers back a few years and perhaps burned their chance to build around James and Davis. They’ve pivoted well to the Luka Dončić era, but that’s created its own bit of drama with James, who is no longer the star being catered to at every move.