Lakers ‘Big Three’ hop on call to confirm their commitment to each other: report

Amid all the uncertainty in Los Angeles, Lakers stars LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook reportedly hopped on a phone call to confirm their commitment to playing together while they’re all in Los Angeles.

The three stars came together for a call during the first weekend of the NBA’s Summer League in Las Vegas in order to make sure they were all on the same page moving forward while committing to making their partnership work, according to a report by Yahoo Sports. 

It’s been a tumultuous year for the Lakers organization, which fired Frank Vogel after a disastrous 33-49 season that saw the franchise miss the playoffs for the second time since James came to Los Angeles. Davis and James played in just 96 combined games as both dealt with various injuries throughout the season. 

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The addition of Russell Westbrook during the 2021 offseason was seen as the league’s new “Big Three” at the time of the trade, but Westbrook struggled mightily in his first year in Los Angeles. 

Westbrook averaged his lowest point totals since his second season in the league and shot just 29.8% from beyond the three-point line. He’s been rumored to be on the trading block for months, and recent rumors have had him as the centerpiece in a potential trade for Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving. 

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Westbrook opted-in to his $47.1 million player option for next season, which will make Westbrook the second-highest player in the NBA next season. 

Last week, Westbrook and his agent of 14 years — Thad Foucher — announced that they were no longer working together due to “irreconcilable differences.” 

In a statement to ESPN, Foucher said that he believes the best option for Westbrook is to play out the last year of his contract under first-year head coach Darvin Ham. It’s an option that, based on Foucher’s statement, seems to be at odds with Westbrook’s thinking. 

“Now, with a possibility of a fourth trade in four years, the marketplace is telling the Lakers they must add additional value with Russell in any trade scenario,” Foucher’s statement said.  “And even then, such a trade may require Russell to immediately move on from the new team via buyout.

“My belief is that this type of transaction only serves to diminish Russell’s value and his best option is to stay with the Lakers, embrace the starting role and support that Darvin Ham publicly offered. Russell is a first-ballot Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame player and will prove that again before he is retired.”