"Vampire strikes again"- Lakers Twitter's tirade against ex-star Russell Westbrook continues after turbulent Nuggets debut   

Russell Westbrook's forgettable Denver Nuggets debut on Friday had LA Lakers fans going at him. Westbrook, who had a tumultuous tenure with his hometown team in LA, engaged in plenty of back-and-forth with the fanbase after a turbulent debut season that saw the Lakers finish 33-49 and miss the playoffs in 2021-22.

The beef between him and the franchise's faithful still exists, which was on display on X after the yesteryear All-Star's underwhelming Nuggets debut. Westbrook finished with six points, five rebounds and five assists, shooting a measly 2 of 10, including 1 of 6 from deep. He had a team-worse box +/- -24. The Nuggets lost the game 102-87 to the OKC Thunder.

Lakers Twitter trolled and criticized Russell Westbrook after his disappointing effort. One fan revisited a report after the former MVP's trade from the franchise at the 2023 trade deadline, calling him a 'vampire.'

"The Vampire strikes again," the troll wrote.

The fan was referring to a report by ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

Another user suggested Westbrook's fanbase will start beefing with Jamal Murray soon:

"Russ fans about to beef with murray within 5 games."

Another fan taunted critics for calling out the Lakers over mishandling Westbrook:

"Lakers was the problem tho"

One fan listed all the criticism that swung the Lakers way over Russell Westbrook's tenure

""y'all wasn't playing him right", "maybe he could do more if you didn't have him just in the corner", "bron ruined russ", "can't blame me""

One fan mocked his box score:

"Minus HOW MANY!?"

One fan commented sarcastically, saying:

"They just gotta let Russ be Russ, idk"

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Michael Malone believes Russell Westbrook-Jamal Murray backcourt has potential

Nuggets coach Michael Malone isn't losing all faith in Russell Westbrook just yet. He thinks the veteran guard can be a solid fit with Jamal Murray in the backcourt. Malone said that after the Nuggets used the two with a second unit that didn't play as well as he would have imagined.

However, he sees potential in Murray being a shooting guard as he played that position in college.

"Jamal is a guard. He's been one. He's been a two," Malone said. "In college he was a two. .... For his Nuggets tenure, Jamal has been a guy that can be a starting one, and he can play with a point guard in the second unit. I think Russ and Jamal have a lot of potential to be really good together."

Jamal Murray and Russell Wesbtrook are complimentary fits, but the rest of the cast around them needs more size and shooting. Westbrook can compensate for Murray's lack of defense while supporting him as a primary playmaker, but his 3-point shooting inefficiency hinders their pairing on a non-shooting lineup.