Photo: Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty
Lakers starRussell Westbrookis addressing a series oftweetsfrom his wife that revealed the family has been the target of “death wishes” amid his struggles in Los Angeles.
After the Lakers' 117-110 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night, Russell told reporters that he supported his wife’s decision to speak out about the harassment they’ve experienced from NBA fans this season.
“When it comes to basketball, I don’t mind the criticism of missing and making shots. But the moment it becomes where my name is getting shamed, it becomes an issue,” Russell toldreporters.
Russell joined the Lakers last summer in a blockbuster trade that saw Los Angeles part with former Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell, as well as Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who were members of theLos Angeles' 2020 championship team.
But the former NBA MVP, who was expected to play a pivotal part in the Lakers lineup, has since experienced an uncharacteristic shooting slump with the team. Russell’s wife, Nina, said the family has subsequently been the target of online attacks.
“When I’m being harassed on a daily basis over basketball games, and I’m having obscenity’s and death wishes for me and my family sent my way because you’re expressing your ‘truth’, it’s hard for me to get on board with that,” Nina, who shares three children with Russell,wroteon Twitter Monday.
“I’ve kind of let it go in the past because it never really bothered me,” Russell said of the name-calling.
“But it really kind of hit me the other day. Me and my wife were at a teacher-parent conference for my son. And the teacher told me, ‘Noah, he’s so proud of his last name,’ " he explained. “He writes it everywhere. He writes it on everything. He tells everybody and walks around and says, ‘I’m Westbrook, I’m Westbrook’, that’s his last name. And I kind of sat there in shock, and it hit me, like, ‘Damn. I can no longer allow people [to call me ‘Westbrick’].’ "
Russell said the condescending nickname is not only disrespectful to him but to “my wife, to my mom, my dad, the ones that kind of paved the way for me.”
The nine-time NBA All-Star said he will now confront fans at games who tease him with the name.
“A lot of times, I let it slide. But now it’s time to put a stop to that and put it on notice,” he said. “There’s a difference. We need to make sure it’s understood. And every time I do hear it now, I will make sure that I address it and make sure I nip that in the bud.”
Russell also said he no longer feels comfortable bringing his family to games, where they could hear taunts from fans.
“It affects them even going to games,” Russell said. “Like, I don’t even want to bring my kids to the game because I don’t want them to hear people calling their dad nicknames and other names for no reason because he’s playing the game that he loves. And it’s gotten so bad where my family don’t even want to go to home games, to any game … and it’s just super unfortunate, man. And it’s super upsetting to me.”
“I’m at a point where I’m going to continue to address it,” he continued. “It’s just unfortunate.”
Last week, the Lakers suffered a painful 123-95 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans in Los Angeles, where footage of fansbooingthe team went viral.
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In one instance, Lakers star LeBron James was seengetting into a confrontation with a fan mid-game, telling the heckler to “shut yo a— up.”
The Lakers have a 28-36 record as of Tuesday with 18 games left in the regular season.
source: people.com
