Russell Westbrook Reportedly Said 'I Hate' LeBron's 'Fake S--t' During Lakers Stint

Russell Westbrook and LeBron James apparently didn't mesh during their time together with the Los Angeles Lakers.

In an excerpt from his book, A Hollywood Ending: The Dreams and Drama of the LeBron Lakers, Yaron Weitzman reported Monday for The Ringer that Westbrook and James grew tired of one another.

The tipping point seemed to result from an appearance by Will Smith as part of the Lakers' "Genius Series." James asked Smith a series of questions and looked engaged in the conversation, having walked out the room earlier as the actor was on his way.

"I hate that fake s--t," Westbrook said to a teammate in reference to the situation.

Weitzman relayed how "Westbrook knew LeBron's reputation":

"He'd seen all the examples of LeBron seemingly misrepresenting himself. There was the time LeBron claimed that The Godfather was his favorite movie but then failed to recall a single line when asked during a press conference to name one.

"There was the time he carried The Autobiography of Malcolm X into a media session but stumbled when asked to name his biggest takeaway. There was the time during an interview when he claimed that, the night Kobe scored 81 points, he'd predicted beforehand that he'd go for 70, a clip so widely mocked that it became a popular meme."

James' behavior during the "Genius Series" chat with Smith was extension of that in the view of Westbrook. Weitzman cited a different source who shared the same general sentiment.

"The same guy who was trying to leave is now quoting back movie lines and going through the guy's whole life story," the person said.

It feels safe to assume James' opinion of Westbrook around this period was similar.

Westbrook proved to be a bad fit alongside LeBron and Anthony Davis. The nine-time All-Star was already declining on the court, and it was tough to let him embrace his singular style without it affecting Los Angeles' other two big names.

The Lakers eventually traded Westbrook in February 2023, and ESPN's Dave McMenamin famously reported it was described like when "you remove a vampire from the locker room."

Westbrook's exit was part of a trade deadline flurry by general manager Rob Pelinka, and the midseason reshuffle helped send Los Angeles to the Western Conference Finals.

The lift proved to be fleeting, though. Los Angeles exited the 2024 and 2025 playoffs in the first round, losing in five games on each occasion.

With the benefit of hindsight, the Big Three experiment with James, Westbrook and Davis was doomed to fail. Pelinka's other approaches of building the squad since the 2020 title run haven't fared much better.