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According to Pat Bev, however, there is more behind Westbrook’s decision to walk away than a simple personal choice: the reputation built around Russ in recent years gradually reduced his place in the NBA.

Beverley: “Everything changed with the Lakers”

For Beverley, there is one moment above all that marked the before and after in Westbrook’s career: his time with the Los Angeles Lakers.

The stint in Los Angeles did indeed represent one of the most difficult periods of Russell Westbrook’s career. Expectations were enormous and the team’s performance did not help: Russ was often at the center of criticism, becoming one of the main targets for explaining the Lakers’ problems.

Beverley, who shared a locker room with him in Los Angeles after years of rivalry, describes a Westbrook who was very different from the image that had developed externally.

According to Pat Bev, Westbrook never caused problems in the locker roomeven when his role was drastically reduced.

“If Lonnie Walker can be in the NBA, Westbrook can too”

What Beverley finds hardest to accept is the idea that there was no longer a place for Westbrook in the league. To explain his point, he brought up Lonnie Walkerwhile making clear that he did not mean any disrespect toward the former Lakers player:

A provocative statement that perfectly sums up Beverley’s thinking: Westbrook retired when he still had enough talent to contribute in the NBA.

The problem, in his view, had by then become primarily about perception.

Westbrook had still drawn interest from the Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizardsbut with a reduced role behind younger players. In the end, he chose to walk away and leave the NBA on his own terms.

Beverley says goodbye to Westbrook: “You’re a legend”

For Beverley, the ending remains bittersweet, especially considering what Westbrook has represented to the NBA (as Kevin Durant also highlighted).

The central point of his message remains the same: Russell Westbrook could have kept playing in the NBAbut years of criticism and, above all, what happened with the Lakers ultimately changed the way the league viewed him.

And for Beverley, that “black cloud” never truly went away.