Not everyone can score buckets like LeBron James. And certainly not at 40. The man is defying time, still racking up awards, monthly honors (yes, he won Western Conference Player of the Month in February), and playing as if his life depends on it. On the flip side, there’s Russell Westbrook—four years younger than Bron, still undeniably dominant, yet facing the deafening silence of late-summer free agency. It makes us wonder: is this absence of interest a subtle sign of a storied career winding down, or can he rise again, like a phoenix—or even better, like Carmelo Anthony once did?

While talking on The Ringer NBA, former NBA guard Raja Bell broke down why Russell Westbrook’s current situation is so tricky, drawing a comparison to Carmelo Anthony’s late-career shift. He explained, “It’s not the exact same situation as Melo when Melo was you know, kind of aging a bit. And you got to have a little bit of self-awareness as to who you are, like whether the ball is still yours. Melo had the advantage of being able to turn himself into a spot jump shooter. Like, you know, Russ hasn’t figured really that part of it out yet… I just don’t think he’s [Russell] read the room well in terms of like, ‘hey, man, you know, I don’t command the same level of like attention or I don’t have the same voice that people are going to be listening to as I did when I was the guy.’ And that’s hard for people to come to grips with.”

For most of his career, Carmelo Anthony dominated with midrange pull-ups, jab steps, and isolation plays that made him nearly unstoppable. But the league sped up, threes became king, spacing ruled the floor, and suddenly those tough midrange twos didn’t carry the same weight. Melo had to adapt, and adapt he did. By the 2020–21 season, 54% of his shots were threes, while midrange attempts dropped to about one-third, and his shot quality jumped nearly 5% points. He stopped forcing contested shots and started picking smarter, cleaner attempts. Now, let’s switch over to Russell Westbrook.

The guy is pure energy and one of the most explosive playmakers ever, but here’s the problem: his shooting just doesn’t fit today’s game. In a league all about threes and spacing, his career 30.5% from three really stands out—and not in a good way. It makes life harder for his teammates, clogs the floor, and gives defenses the upper hand. Even with all his athletic gifts and relentless drive, teams can’t ignore that weakness when figuring out where he fits.

And it’s not just the long-range shot. Eric Pincus points out that Westbrook isn’t exactly built to slide into a supporting role. Add in a career average of 3.9 turnovers per game and his prickly media reputation, and front offices are understandably cautious. The days of coast-to-coast dashes, posterizing dunks, and nightly triple-doubles are behind him. Even if he’s accepted that he’s no longer the focal point of a franchise, his ball-heavy, high-risk style just doesn’t adapt easily into a role-player position, which is why so many teams are hesitant to bring him aboard.

Rockets’ VanVleet injury sparks Westbrook reunion debate

Here’s the deal in Houston: the Rockets just got hit hard. Fred VanVleet, their star point guard and a true leader on the floor, tore his ACL in the offseason and is out for the year. That leaves a big gap in the backcourt, with Reed Sheppard and Amen Thompson expected to shoulder more responsibility. Naturally, the idea of bringing Russell Westbrook back has come up as a potential fix.

Andrew Peters from Bleacher Report even pointed out that last season with the Nuggets, Westbrook came off the bench and still averaged 13.3 points, 6.1 assists, and 4.9 rebounds per game, showing he can still contribute. Peters suggested Houston could slot him in as a starter or a solid backup—and, who knows, maybe even give him another shot alongside Kevin Durant at chasing a championship.

But not everyone is sold on that plan. Raja Bell made his stance clear: “He’s not a Rockets fit. All right, Russ, I’m sorry. Um, no, I think I think too combustible a locker room, if that makes sense. Now, maybe combustible is the wrong word. It’s too vulnerable a locker room. There’s too much of a vacuum there in leadership for a personality like Russ to step in… So I don’t think you could absorb Russ necessarily with that team if that makes sense.”

So what’s the drama Bell is hinting at? Well, while Westbrook’s locker-room presence has been exaggerated at times, Houston is a different story. Kevin Durant, a former teammate and long-time rival, is there now, and the two haven’t played together since Durant left OKC. There’s a real chance neither wants to reunite, and even if old tensions are smoothed over, the Rockets’ locker room might just be too fragile to handle another volatile personality. Bell’s warning is clear: sometimes, the chemistry just isn’t worth the gamble.