Good morning. Let’s basketball.

Russell Westbrook had another tough shooting night in a season full of them, and the Lakers lost, and Westbrook turned introspective (sort of) in the post-game.

It’s important to note that this follows from Westbrook’s wife, Nina, sharing on social media on Monday that her family has been subjected to death wishes from aggrieved fans. This is rolled into a social media spat with Skip Bayless; no, Skip Bayless does not need more attention, so we can leave him out of this.

This is not black and white. Few things are. This is especially gray.

I sympathize with Westbrook, who wants his children to be proud of their name and who wants his wife to have peace on social media and at Westbrook’s games. At the same time, blaming these uncomfortable feelings and the dangerous overreactions of some particularly unsavory fans on legitimate analysis of the Lakers’ on-court problems and Westbrook’s role in them … that’s not fair. People tweeting or yelling “Westbrick” have nothing to do death threats. The two are not comparable. I don’t think either Westbrook is meaning to directly compare them. But it should be said that saying “Westbrick” and critiquing the team and player are not equivalent to violence. The violent comments should be dealt with swiftly and thoroughly.

And yet, I understand the instinct to react and defend his family from the co-opting of his name. It’s just not reasonable to think that saying “my son is proud of his name and you all are ruining it” is going to have the desired effect, or change minds. In fact, using his son as a shield from criticism will probably make some dig in more, and turn some dispassionate parties against him as a matter of principle.

To expect Westbrook to be universally praised in the Lakers’ home arena given the state of the team and his individual performance this season … that’s unreasonable, too. There is a line, and the Westbrook family and Lakers organization should deal with anyone that crosses it. Westbrook has actually been really forceful throughout his career of involving arena security when lines were crossed. That’s good. Players should not just ignore or feign to ignore legitimate verbal abuse. But booing and non-racialized yelps from frustrated fans, those don’t fit the category. Those are normalized in world sport, and Westbrook’s lament won’t denormalize them. There’s no chance of that in these circumstances.

And yet, I understand Westbrook’s frustration! I can’t empathize, having never experienced anything close. But I can imagine what it must feel like, to be well-compensated but disrespected almost every day at the office, no matter where the work is happening. To see your family subjected to completely unearned hatred over basketball. To see your kids start to recognize the criticism their father, their hero is subjected to, not because he’s a bad person or he’s done bad things. Just because he isn’t performing as he once did. Just because he’s playing exactly the same way as he always has, but it’s not having the same effect on the game. And it’s easy to understand that while there is a massive range of severity in the negative attention Westbrook and his family are receiving, being subjected to all of it can blur the lines and homogenize it into a bucket that’s just Bad.

The flip side of all this attention (negative now) is that Westbrook’s family is building institutional wealth and institutions to support the communities the Westbrooks care about away from basketball. Westbrook’s off-court work is legion and commendable on every level. He could go 0 for his next 2,500 shots and “Westbrook” would still be a name worth having pride in. It’s hard to keep that front of mind while you’re getting booed in your hometown, it’s hard to explain that to a young child who feels conflicted about their name after hearing a taunt.

Fandom can be toxic, to both the fan and the subject. There’s no denying that. Being subjected to mocking criticism is deeply unpleasant. The Westbrooks are absolutely right about that. But those fans who are most unpleasant, most virulent — they are not going to be swayed by Westbrook’s statements. Criticism or critical analysis from the media is not going to stop; in fact, Westbrook is almost assuredly going to be the main character on sports talk shows everywhere today after his post-game comments. (Speaking of which, it’s pretty unreasonable for Westbrook to essentially plead with the media to stop criticizing him given how Westbrook has treated some members of the media in his career. That’s one fault I have with Westbrook’s career: it was disrespectful and counterproductive to feud with media members all along the way.)

There’s not really a path to what Westbrook appears to want, which is praise when he triumphs and silence when he does not. That’s not the deal we’ve struck in American pro sports, and renegotiation of that deal is not available when a star player’s career arc turns downward.

Some players in Westbrook’s position have been able to pivot from target of ire to beloved old guy, usually when their salary cap impact drops considerably and they become role players. Westbrook’s at least a couple years away from that; my read of the situation is that Westbrook has enough interests outside the sport that he may walk away before reaching that stage.

As a fellow human and as someone who has adored watching Westbrook play basketball since his rookie season in OKC — Westbrook was my favorite non-King for six or seven years there — I would love for him to get what he’s looking for. Unfortunately, what he seeks just isn’t reasonable. That’s a shame.

Scores

Hawks 110, Pistons 113 (OT) — Cade Cunningham is something. Great vision, an offbeat pace with a live dribble, clearly a very smart player. Instant chemistry with Marvin Bagley III, too, which is a good sign as the roster adds more talent. Detroit might be ready to compete for a play-in spot next year.

Bulls 106, Sixers 121 — Shutdown performance from Joel Embiid. James Harden was cold from the field and the Sixers still shredded a fellow contender, because Harden was happy to set up Embiid and others. P-R-O-B-L-E-M.

Rockets 106, Heat 123 — Folks, Victor Oladipo is back.

Steve Jones Jr. @stevejones20

LOOK AT VICTOR OLADIPO.

March 8th 2022

346 Retweets2,885 Likes

Blazers 81, Timberwolves 124 — Oh nothing, just Patrick Beverley taking over the T-shirt cannon in the fourth quarter.

Norman Seawright III @SeawrightSays

PatBev wildin with this t-shirt cannon

March 8th 2022

47 Retweets258 Likes

I love how excited the Wolves and the crowd are for Jake Layman to score a bucket on his birthday.

Cooper Carlson @CoopCarlson

Jake Layman scores and Target Center erupts. Exactly like we all thought tonight would go.

March 8th 2022

1 Retweet20 Likes

Jazz 103, Mavericks 111 — It’s already clear that Luka Doncic is offended at the mere existence of Rudy Gobert, but this is a little extreme.

Bleacher Report @BleacherReport

Luka was heated at Gobert after this play 😅

March 8th 2022

323 Retweets6,112 Likes

Vlade Divac is smiling somewhere.

Bobby Karalla @bobbykaralla

Gobert stops Luka at the buzzer. Gobert flips the ball to Luka. Luka doesn't like that. He tosses it back. Royce O'Neale doesn't like that. Neither does Gobert. Words are exchanged. Luka also signaled "come here" to Gobert later but Gobert did not do it.

March 8th 2022

18 Retweets183 Likes

I don’t think they like each other.

Anyway, when he wasn’t trying to frame Gobert for murder, he was trying to get switched onto Gobert to pull him out of the lane. It worked.

Lakers 110, Spurs 117 — LeBron rested, the Lakers lose, Gregg Popovich ties Don Nelson for the most regular season wins ever by a coach.

Warriors 124, Nuggets 131 — So this game was rescheduled after a COVID-19 cancellation, and Golden State was mad that they would need to travel to Denver twice this week with a home game in between, so they elected to keep Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins at home for this game. Which is too bad, because it was winnable (in part because Denver went to overtime on Sunday), and now Golden State is in third place and has lost five straight games.

Nikola Jokic with another triple-double.

Knicks 131, Kings 115 — Would you believe the Kings were up by 20 in the first half and still lost by double digits? Sure! Julius Randle basically owns a portion of Golden 1 Center now. Good investment strategy.

Schedule

All times Eastern.

Nets at Hornets, 7
Cavaliers at Pacers, 7
Suns at Magic, 7
Pelicans at Grizzlies, 7:30, TNT**
Bucks at Thunder, 8
Clippers at Warriors, 10, TNT*

Alright, see you tomorrow. Be excellent to each other.