Once the Los Angeles Lakers hired Darvin Ham, one of the big questions was how he would use nine-time All-Star Russell Westbrook, assuming Westbrook is still on the team come October.
Ham talked a bit about how he would integrate Westbrook with LeBron James during his introductory press conference on Monday.
Integrating the two ball-dominant stars is something that previous head coach Frank Vogel was unable to do successfully this season.
But perhaps the best sign was the fact that Westbrook was physically present at Ham’s press conference. In addition, rookie guard Austin Reaves decided to attend the media event on Monday to get a glimpse of his new coach.
Russ at the Darvin Ham’s introductory press conference. pic.twitter.com/bTAk1gYDXV
— The Lakers Review (@TheLakersReview) June 6, 2022
Reportedly, the guard didn’t get along very well with Vogel’s staff and wasn’t receptive to Vogel or his assistants.
Westbrook is still a very good player, if not a true All-Star, and the way he played down the stretch (he averaged 22.2 points on 52.1 percent overall shooting and 41.5 percent from 3-point range, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists in his last 10 games) is evidence of that.
Ham said that he has already had some productive discussions with the 2017 league MVP.
Via Lakers Nation:
“I would say yes, Russ and I have had some really great 1-on-1 convos and the biggest word I think that came out of those discussions was sacrifice. That was the biggest word, sacrifice. We’re gonna sacrifice whatever we got to do, and it’s not just Russ. There’s gonna be sacrifices that LeBron has to make, that AD has to make, on down the line through the rest of our roster.
“Again, we have to start on the defensive end and in terms of what his role is gonna be, I’m gonna expect him to be the same tenacious high-energy player that he’s been his entire career. A lot of it now may happen without the ball in his hands. Most of it now may happen on the defensive end, but again, we have to sacrifice. There’s no achieving anything without all parties sharing the load, sacrificing and depending on one another.”
Westbrook talked about sacrificing last summer when he met with James and Anthony Davis prior to being traded to the Lakers. But the fact that he attended Ham’s press conference and took the time to connect and communicate with him prior to that is certainly a good sign for what will transpire starting in October.
