Westbrook dismisses criticisms of his play this season: 'I've been fine'

Los Angeles Lakers guard Russell Westbrook believes that averaging a triple-double in his previous campaign has placed unrealistic expectations on his play.

"Honestly, I think I've been fine," Westbrook told reporters Monday, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "The conversation has been heavily on how I'm playing and what I'm doing, but I think people are expecting me to have f------ 25, 15, and 15, which, that is not normal. Everybody has to understand, like, that's not a normal thing that people do consistently."

Westbrook is coming off a 4-of-20 outing on Christmas Day against the Brooklyn Nets. It was the 40th time in his career that he shot 30% or worse on 20-plus attempts, according to StatMuse.

His scoring has dropped to 19.6 points per game, which is the former MVP's lowest output since his second year in the Association. Westbrook also leads all players in turnovers (156) and sits fifth in personal fouls (105). His 48.6% effective field-goal percentage ranks in the 39th percentile among point guards, per Cleaning the Glass.

Despite struggling in various aspects of the game, Westbrook remains confident in himself.

"People are saying, 'Let Russ be Russ,' ... but nobody actually knows what that means but myself," Westbrook said. "And I'm gonna lean on that and make sure I do what I'm supposed to do. And let everything else outside the locker room, whatever that may be, take care of itself."