“I hate that fake s**t”: Russell Westbrook despised LeBron James’ 'inauthentic' persona as truth behind their broken Lakers bond comes to light

Sacramento Kings star Russell Westbrook reportedly despised former teammate LeBron James' persona as revealed by Yaron Weitzman of "The Ringer" on Monday. Weitzman shared insights of their time at the LA Lakers where Westbrook was displeased with James' perceived lack of authenticity.

In his book, "A Hollywood Ending: The Dreams and Drama of the LeBron Lakers," he claimed that Westbrook was frustrated with James' behaviour at a team meeting with Will Smith.

"I hate that fake sh**," Westbrook reportedly said after a team sessiom where LeBron James asked repeated questions to Will Smith and overstayed the time allotted.

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According to Weitzman, Westbrook didn't believe some of the statements made by James due to his record with inconsitency. The four-time champion had gaffes with his claim that "The Godfather" was his favorite movie but couldn't remeber a single line about the movie or his now infamous clip of predicting the late Kobe Bryant's 81-point game.

Russell Westbrook and LeBron James were teammates during the 2021-22 and part of the 2022-23 seasons. Both players were a mismatch due to identical playing styles. Westbrook's shooting and efficiency dropped during his time with the Lakers and found it hard to flow with James and Anthony Davis.

When the lakers big-three experiment of James, Davis and Westbrook didn't work out, the 2017 MVP reportedly felt undervalued. Reports also claimed that James was open to trading Westbrook for his former teammate with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Kyrie Irving, who played with the Brooklyn Nets at the time.

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LeBron James' statement on Russell Westbrook's career

LeBron James during an episode of "Mind the Game" podcast spoke about Russell Westbrook during his time with the OKC Thunder.

"Every time Russ stepped on the court, oh, this guy's special," James said. "We've never seen anything like this. Soon as he get on the court, it's a missile."

Westbrook joined the league in 2008 after a successful stint at UCLA. He was selected with the No. 4 pick in the 2008 draft by the defunct Seattle SuperSonics. In his 11 seasons in Oklahoma, he averaged 23.0 points, 7.1 assists and 7.0 recounds, where he was the face of the franchise.

Edited by Ubong Richard