Overview
- An excerpt from Yaron Weitzman’s A Hollywood Ending recounts LeBron James leaving a team session before Will Smith arrived, then returning to dominate a Q&A, after which Russell Westbrook told a teammate, “I hate that fake s***.”
- The book links Westbrook’s frustration to reports that James wanted the Lakers to pursue Kyrie Irving, a move Westbrook understood would likely require trading him.
- Coverage notes an icy Summer League noninteraction between James and Westbrook in July 2022, reflecting how strained their relationship had become entering the 2022–23 season.
- The Lakers ultimately traded Westbrook in February 2023, ending an unsuccessful on-court partnership that followed a 2021–22 season in which Los Angeles missed the playoffs.
- The anecdotes were published by The Ringer and widely summarized by national outlets, and the articles do not report any new on-the-record rebuttals from the players involved; Westbrook is currently with the Kings.