By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
The Los Angeles Lakers introduced their new head coach Darvin Ham on Monday. Among the players attending the press conference, Russell Westbrook and his projected role heading to the 2022-23 NBA season was met with the support of the 48-year-old tactician.
“Don’t get it messed up: Russell Westbrook is one of the best players our league has ever seen, and there’s still a ton left in the tank,” underlined Ham, “I don’t know why people tend to try to write him off.”
Westbrook, 33, is coming off a rough season after shifting to the Lakers via trade last August. Holding a $47M option, he is widely expected to extend his contract through the next season. In that regard, he has already discussed his role with the new head coach of the storied franchise.
“Russ and I had some really, really great one-on-one convos, man, and the biggest word I think that came out of that, those discussions, was ‘sacrifice,’” noted Ham, “I’m going to expect him to be the same tenacious, high-energy player that he’s been all his entire career. A lot of that now may have him without the ball in his hand. Most of it now may have it on the defensive end. But again, we have to sacrifice. There’s no achieving anything without all parties sharing the load, sacrificing, instead of one-on-one.”
In 2021-22, the 2017 NBA MVP dropped 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.1 assists, and 1.0 steals per game over 78 appearances, all starts. The Lakers missed the Playoffs.
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