With training camp set to open on Monday, the scenario Los Angeles Lakers fans have been dreading has apparently come to pass: Russell Westbrook is starting camp as a Laker.
The team flirted with multiple trade offers that would’ve brought back Kyrie Irving, Buddy Hield and Bojan Bogdanovic, just to name a few options, but in the end, it has elected to hold on to the 2017 league MVP, at least for now.
Barring a trade in the next few weeks, the Lakers will have no choice but to make the most of him and hope he becomes a more team-oriented player.
In a recent interview, he said the right things about what lies ahead.
Via Lakers Daily:
“‘I’m all-in on whatever it takes for this team to win,’ Westbrook said to ESPN. ‘I’m prepared for whatever comes my way.’
“Moreover, Westbrook is confident that he’s nowhere close to running out of steam.
“‘I’m not even close to being done,’ Westbrook said. ‘I’m super grateful and blessed to be able to go compete year after year, and that’s all I can do is prepare myself, my mind, my body for as long as I play.’
“Westbrook realizes that there may be bumps in the road throughout the 2022-23 campaign, but he’s also aware that that’s part of the process.
“‘I’m going to make mistakes,’ he said. ‘I’m [occasionally] not going to have good games. There will be times and stretches when I don’t play well. I’ve owned that, and there were times last year that I could’ve played better, and I own that part of it. Moving into this year, I feel even more prepared than I was in years past. That’s what I’m looking forward to the most. That, right there, will get me past any struggles that come my way.'”
When the Los Angeles-area native was traded to the Lakers last summer, he thought he was coming home to compete for an NBA championship and get showered with love. Instead, he was hit on the head like an anvil with massive criticism as the team didn’t reach the play-in tournament.
With a somewhat better supporting cast, the hope is that the Lakers do better this season and that Westbrook has been humbled enough to do whatever it takes to fit in.
