LeBron James heaped praise on Russell Westbrook after the criticised guard impressed off the bench during the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.
The Lakers slipped to a horrendous 0-5 to start the 2022/23 NBA season as they lost to the Timberwolves in Minnesota. The 111-102 defeat was met with jeers from the home crowd as James has suffered the worst start to a season since his rookie campaign.
The Lakers couldn’t overcome the Timberwolves as Anthony Edwards scored 29 points while Rudy Gobert - acquired from the Utah Jazz in a blockbuster trade - tallied 22 points and 21 rebounds. Karl-Anthony Towns scored 14 points in the fourth quarter as he finished with 21 in total as Minnesota won successive games for the first time this season.
James was without his fellow star as Anthony Davis did not play due to lower back tightness. The much-maligned Westbrook came off the bench for the first time in his career since his rookie season as he added 18 points and eight rebounds in the losing effort - and James insisted the former MVP’s energy ‘catapulted’ the franchise’s performance.
“He was great,” James declared. “He was great all game.”
Coming off the bench, Westbrook played 33 minutes - more than he had in any of the three games he started this season - and finished his impressive box score, which included three assists. While his performance was encouraging, Westbrook shot 6-for-17 and 5-for-10 from the line as shooting struggles persisted.
Westbrook has had to make adjustments to his routine as he adapts to his role off the bench for the first time since his rookie campaign of 2008/09. On Friday, he rode an exercise bike in the tunnel before coming in the game midway through the first quarter.
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The 33-year-old’s attitude has improved and he showcased the strategy and effort new head coach Darvin Ham had discussed with Westbrook in the offseason and preseason. He said: “From Day 1, I mentioned I'm the guy that's willing to do whatever for the team.
“I’ll sacrifice whatever it is that needs to be sacrificed - parts of my game that I've done for years to accommodate whatever it is that the coach needs me to do, and I'll continue to do that.”
The sacrifice included being the main defender on 7’1” center Gobert in the closing lineup, with Ham forced to playing small in the closing stages as Davis and Thomas Bryant were unavailable. Westbrook added: “I’m actually not mad with how we played tonight.
“Our energy was in the right direction, which I'm happy about. And I think it's important obviously to get AD back and get guys healthy, getting us - get things going. But until then, nobody's going to feel sorry for us. We got to find a way to compete and get a win.”
