Russell Westbrook’s agent called out new LA Lakers owners and NBA teams hours before his retirement

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Even moments away from calling time on his legendary career, Russell Westbrook and those close to him denied the LA Lakers any satisfaction.

A monumental day in the NBA that started out with the news of the LA Lakers being sold to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner and ended with the surprising retirement of Russell Westbrook.

However, a few hours before Westbrook decided to call time on his career, his agent took a shot at the Lakers and every other NBA team.

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Russell Westbrook’s agent calls out LA Lakers sale hours before retirement​

In response to the Los Angeles Lakers being sold to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner for a whopping $12 billion, Jeff Schwartz, the founder and CEO of the Excel Basketball agency, had this to say:

“Incredible, the Lakers sell for $12B, yet teams won’t spend on older vets because of current CBA rules. Thank you, Union.”

Schwartz, for those who might be unaware, represented Russell Westbrook during his NBA career, and other notable veterans like Kevin Love.

Interestingly, Love had been linked to the Los Angeles Lakers for the last few years, with the idea being that the team would reunite him with former Cavaliers teammate LeBron James.

However, the Lakers never made a move for him, presumably because they didn’t want to spend on ‘older vets’ like Schwartz claimed.

However, Schwartz didn’t just call out the Lakers, but all NBA teams for being frugal towards veteran players, seemingly blaming the NBPA for agreeing to the new salary cap rules during their latest Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations.

Ironically, Schwartz hasn’t directed any blame towards one of his clients, CJ McCollum, who spearheaded these negotiations as the president of the NBPA.

McCollum has been criticised for greenlighting the new CBA that introduced such restrictive salary cap rules, giving owners the opportunity to refuse big paydays for NBA players under the guise of keeping the team under the dreaded first and second aprons.

Perhaps Schwartz should have expressed these frustrations to McCollum, given that it was his own client’s work that made life as an agent that much harder for him.

Many within the NBPA are eyeing the 2029 CBA negotiations as their window to reverse this issue and come up with a salary cap rule structure that doesn’t hamper the players’ opportunities to earn big contracts.

While NBA teams haven’t stopped paying players high salaries, they are a lot more selective about what calibre of players warrant such massive contracts.

Read more:

• Shared NBA record with LeBron James shows just how elite Russell Westbrook’s career has been
• Is Russell Westbrook considering a move to Israel? Fact-checking viral NBA rumour
• Russell Westbrook breaks silence on NBA return after not finding a new team (yet) in the offseason

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