Contrary to current narrative, Russell Westbrook led the Lakers in time of possession of the ball during his tenure with the team

I've been seeing a lot of "Lakers didn't use Russ right, they just stuck him in the corner!" takes flying around in response to his resurgence with Denver. Say what you will about what the Lakers got wrong with Russ, but I'm confused why people are lying about what his role was. This is pretty verifiably wrong, and would be obvious to anybody who watched the games.

In 2021-22, among Lakers players:

  • Westbrook was 2nd in passes made per game (54.2 passes; LeBron led with 56.8)
  • Westbrook was 2nd in touches per game (78.9 touches; LeBron led with 87.4)
  • Westbrook was 1st in time of possession per touch (4.89 seconds)
  • Westbrook was 1st in time of possession per game (6.4 minutes)
  • Westbrook was 1st in dribbles per touch (4.29 dribbles)

LeBron touched the ball more and passed the ball more than Westbrook on a per game basis, but Westbrook was 2nd in both categories (and passes were quite close). Additionally, Westbrook was 1st in time of possession and dribbles. Nobody held the ball more on the Lakers than Westbrook.

What about 2022-23?:

  • Westbrook was 3rd in passes made per game (41.4 passes; LeBron and Davis had 47.7 and 44.9 apiece)
  • Westbrook was 3rd in touches per game (62.9 touches; LeBron and Davis had 78.4 and 68.5 apiece)
  • Westbrook was 1st in time of possession per touch (5.49 seconds)
  • Westbrook was 2nd in time of possession per game (5.5 minutes; LeBron led with 5.7)
  • Westbrook was 1st in dribbles per touch (4.87 dribbles)

So AD started to get more passes and touches per game than Westbrook (but not by a lot; passes especially were rather close between Russ/AD/LeBron), but Westbrook still dribbled more than anybody else and was narrowly behind LeBron for time of possession. Led him across the two seasons, hence the title.

The funny thing? Russ' touches, passes, and time of possession are all down with the Nuggets compared to his Lakers stint.

So, by all means continue to discuss why Westbrook with the Lakers went wrong. Come up with whatever explanations you want. But just know that this explanation does not make sense. It does not stand up to reality.

One to consider: maybe peak Jokic is just better than 37/38-year-old LeBron and this helps Westbrook? I don't know, just a theory.