Has the Lakers-Russell Westbrook relationship reached a breaking point?

Although it certainly felt like it at several points, the Lakers’ Tuesday loss to the Bucks was nowhere near rock-bottom, or even something out of the ordinary. It was just the latest example of issues that have ailed the team all year.

The club’s defense continues to hemorrhage points, their effort level waxes and wanes, and the relative failure of the Russell Westbrook experiment is still the talk coming out of nearly every postgame presser. The latter occurred yet again following Westbrook sitting out the entirety of the fourth quarter, in which the Lakers made a late run to close the gap.

Westbrook’s postgame comments regarding his playing time in the fourth quarter, coupled with his awful performances of late have only heightened what was an already underlying tension and frustration for everyone about how the season has gone thus far.

Now, the team’s current standing does not, and ultimately should not, lie solely at Westbrook’s feet. But the more the two parties continue to clash, it will only further spotlight the offseason that was, and raise even louder questions about how the team may look to address their roster going forward — which brings us to today’s episode.

On this week’s edition of “Talk-O-Tuesday,” our hosts Alex Padilla and Alex Regla recapped the Lakers loss to the Bucks, then segued to Westbrook’s latest postgame comments, and what, if any, moves the team will make as a result.

The duo also previewed the team’s upcoming mini road trip, and later discussed if the trades around the league give them more or less hope regarding the Lakers likelihood in finding a dance partner come Thursday’s deadline.

To keep up with all the latest reports before the deadline, check out our 2022 Lakers trade rumors tracker. You can listen to the full episode below, and to make sure you never miss a show, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

And for a short-form recap pod, check out Lakers Lowdown, in which Anthony Irwin recaps the previous day’s news and gets you ready for the day ahead in LakerLand, every weekday morning on the Silver Screen & Roll Podcast feed

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