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Los Angeles Lakers: How LeBron James’ return affects Russell Westbrook

By Jack Simone

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 12: LeBron James #6 and Russell Westbrook #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers on the basketball court together during the second half of a preseason basketball game against the Golden State Warriors at Staples Center on October 12, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 12: LeBron James #6 and Russell Westbrook #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers on the basketball court together during the second half of a preseason basketball game against the Golden State Warriors at Staples Center on October 12, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /
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Los Angeles Lakers
Russell Westbrook #0 and LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers warm up on the court before the NBA preseason game against the Phoenix Suns (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of EPSN, LeBron James is prepping to return to the court tomorrow for the Los Angeles Lakers game against the Boston Celtics.

Lakers vs. Celtics is an iconic rivalry, so it’s fitting that The King makes his return tomorrow night. Jaylen Brown could make his return to the court for Boston, too, so the night would be as close to perfect as possible.

However, as James prepares for his return to the court (which as of now is a 50/50 chance for tomorrow), let’s take a look at how the Lakers have fared without him.

With James in the lineup, the Los Angeles Lakers are 4-2 this season. Without him, they are 4-6, including 3-5 over this last stretch where he has missed eight games in a row.

Obviously, getting a player as incredible as James is sure to help the team as a whole. However, one player, in particular, could end up being affected as a result of James’ return.

How LeBron James’ Los Angeles Lakers return affects Russell Westbrook

Russell Westbrook has been having an up-and-down season, but over these past eight games, he has looked pretty solid. He’s averaging 19.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 9.0 assists while shooting 40.8 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from deep.

Meanwhile, through the first eight games of the season (James played in six), Westbrook averaged similar numbers as a whole but was only shooting 21.9 percent from deep.

This is a super interesting statistic to note, because normally when players play with James, they are getting easy shots due to his gravity. Maybe Westbrook was just slumping to start the season?

If that’s the case, then getting James back could not only help the Lakers, but it could actually help Westbrook rather than hurt him. If he shoots nearly 37 percent from deep with James in the lineup, a bunch of their spacing issues would be solved.

Going into the season, a lot of people were afraid the two wouldn’t be able to co-exist because of a lack of spacing. However, if Westbrook’s slump actually is over, this could be a turning point for the Los Angeles Lakers after a rocky start to the season.

However, if he reverts back to shooting below 22 percent from three-point range, they’ll likely face some issues. That would be a very interesting development if it were to happen.

Los Angeles Lakers are definitely hoping for Westbrook to continue shooting well. In theory, the return of LeBron James should only help, but in practice, only time will tell.

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