Lakers News: Russell Westbrook Assesses Relationship With New Head Coach
It's always tough to make the transition from All-Star athlete to role player, but that is exactly what's facing Los Angeles Lakers point guard Russell Westbrook. He's a proud player -- which makes plenty of sense for a nine-time All-Star who will have made $335,645,148 in total career earnings by the end of the 2022-23 NBA season.
It's clear that Westbrook needs to at least be less of a focal point of L.A.'s offense. Ham also has alluded to the fact that Westbrook needs to improve his defensive engagement, but the 33-year-old appears to have a lost a step, which may be compounding the issue.
During a postgame locker room chat with Lakers.com reporter Mike Trudell, Westbrook addressed how he and Darvin Ham are communicating and bonding.
"Just being able to communicate [is important in establishing a rapport with Ham]. Whatever he needs me to do, I go out and try to do it to the best of my ability. And if I need something from him I'm able to communicate with him as well."
Granted, these look an awful lot like generic platitudes, and it doesn't seem that Westbrook, 33, is long for this Lakers team.
The 6'3" vet sat yesterday on the second night of a preseason back-to-back (which is a weird scheduling choice by the NBA just in general). He has started but playing relatively sparingly in these exhibition games, as the Lakers have been careful to not overextend their older players.
During a Wednesday loss against the Suns, in just 20:20:54 minutes, the 2017 MVP scored 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field (but 2-of-4 from behind the arc), plus six rebounds and three assists.
A Long Beach native and UCLA product, Westbrook grew up during the era where the Lakers were led by legendary center Shaquille O'Neal and shooting guard Kobe Bryant.
