Byron Scott, who knows a thing or two about winning titles as a Laker, recently chatted about how effective he thinks last year's Lakers Big Three could be, during a conversation with Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson of Bally Sports while on a Bovada Sports segment at TJ Kidd's Celebrity basketball game.
Scott, who played for a decade in L.A. and won two titles with the Showtime Era Lakers, went on to have a long coaching career in the league following his retirement as a player. He wrapped up with a two-year stint as the Lakers' head coach from 2014-16.
In the first (and probably last) year of L.A.'s grand "Big Three" experiment, All-Star forward LeBron James and his oft-injured big man colleague Anthony Davis (who missed 42 games last season) were joined by former 2017 MVP point guard Russell Westbrook. Their collaboration was an unmitigated disaster. Injuries to James (who also missed 26 games) and Davis limited their availability, and ultimately this trio appeared in just 21 games together.
Westbrook, healthy for 78 contests, was much, much worse than his decent counting stats would imply. Though he put up numbers, his defense, shooting, and late-game decision-making were brutal. With Patrick Beverley now waiting in the wings, Westbrook's starting days in the NBA (not just with the Lakers) could be over.
Los Angeles finished with a 33-49 record and missed the Western Conference play-in during the 2021-22 season. Scott, however, remains optimistic that a healthier season could yet more positive results for the trio:
"Trying to force that whole situation to work, it was just chaos from the start and also the fact that Anthony [Davis] wasn’t healthy enough to really have any type of cohesiveness... I’m hoping this year that they’re healthy, I’m hoping that they’ve been working out and getting ready for the season, getting ready for the preseason and all that stuff because I think those guys together could be dynamic."
The fit of Davis and James remains pretty excellent, though if Davis can't recover to his prior jump-shooting levels or quickness, what made him special may be gone. He was an 18.6% three-point shooter on 1.8 attempts last season after being a 33% shooter on nearly double the volume in 2019-20. The issue was Westbrook. Though he averaged 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists, if you scratch beneath the surface of those decent numbers, an argument can be made that he actually had a historically bad year. I've shared this before, but it's worth a second look:
Patrick Beverley has at least stated publicly that he is convinced he and Westbrook can play together. Whether that means sharing the floor or just being hospitable to each other while on the same team, playing staggered minutes, was unclear. Both are nominally point guards, Beverley is better, and Westbrook has not expressed any willingness to adjust his game as he has aged out of his prime. Things could get ugly if both are on the roster by opening night. The "Big Three" experiment is over, it's time to move on.
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