According to the Lakers' official announcement today, the team's starting point guard Russell Westbrook will miss today's Lakers away game against the Blazers because of nervous lower back. James and Howard, who were previously rumored to also miss the game due to injury, will play.
Yesterday, the Lakers lost to the Bucks at home, and then they will fly to Portland to challenge the Blazers, and for the older Lakers, the schedule is indeed more difficult. This is also the first time that Westbrook has missed a game this season, and in the previous 55 games, Westbrook has maintained full attendance and has been serving as the Lakers' starting point guard.
Interestingly, many fans have also begun to speculate whether it is because Westbrook may really be traded away, in order to protect him? As we all know, NBA teams will deliberately protect some players before trading, after all, there is a risk of injury in playing games, and once injured, the transaction may be difficult to complete.
The deadline for this season will be 4:00 a.m. Beijing time on February 11, and the Lakers are currently trying to negotiate, but nothing has yet happened. If Westbrook is really traded away, then yesterday's game with the Bucks is likely to be the last time he wears a Lakers jersey.
![The Lakers are exploring player trades other than Russell Westbrook! Because of this bad start! After scoring his first two wins of the season last week and the week before, despite Russell S.[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)