Lakers: Darvin Ham Explains Why Russell Westbrook Will 'Flourish' Next Season
Save for a handful of games last season, Lakers guard Russell Westbrook struggled to find his groove in his first season in LA. Even when LeBron James and Anthony Davis were on the court, Russ was unable to be the productive, efficient player the Lakers hoped he could be when they acquired him from the Wizards. A big reason why the Lakers tapped Darvin Ham to succeed Frank Vogel was Ham's perceived ability to get the most out of Russ.
Ham and Westbrook, who attended his coach's introductory press conference, have met several times this offseason to discuss the former MVP's role on the current Lakers roster.
In an article on andscape.com, ESPN Senior Writer Marc Spears recently interviewed Ham and unsurprisingly, Ham continued to sing Westbrook's praises and affirm that the two have a shared perspective on how to make him a productive player next season.
"I love Russell Westbrook, man. Just his mentality, his approach. Just to see him, a guy of that magnitude and everything he's done in the league to get hated on. But being me, I got a wholehearted plan, a clear plan on how I'm going to use him."
Ham stated that he's shown Russ the "wholehearted plan" and that limiting Westbrook isn't in the playbook.
"I showed it to him, sat down, brought stuff up for him. I think he's going to flourish. We ain't go to try to curtail his energy. We're just going to diversify it, redirect it."
Last season, Westbrook and Vogel struggled to find common ground on the guard's role which culminated in Russ slamming his head coach in his exit interview.
Barring the Lakers pulling off a Russell Westbrook-Kyrie Irving trade this summer, they're going to have to make it work with Russ.
At least for now, it looks like they hired the right man for the job.
