Of all the offseason acquisitions that the Los Angeles Lakers made prior to the 2022-23 season, it is safe to say that only one has really worked out so far and that would be Lonnie Walker IV. The former Spur is averaging 16.6 points per game on 47.1% shooting from the field, with both being career-best marks.
It was somewhat of a surprise to see him be a part of the starting lineup at the beginning of the season but he has repaid the faith that head coach Darvin Ham had in him with some good performances. They’ll need more of the same from Walker moving forward as they look to turn things around this season.
Lonnie Walker IV Reveals How Russell Westbrook Taught Him To Be More Aggressive
Walker recently made an appearance on the Silver Screen and Roll podcast where he had a lot of positive things to say about Russell Westbrook. He said Russ isn’t an egotistic guy and called him one of the most down-to-earth people he has ever met. Walker also revealed how Westbrook has helped take his game up a notch after a conversation they had this season.
(starts at 7:57 mark):
“There was a time where I had a midrange pull up and I passed it and Russ cursed me out after, during the timeout call like ‘Yo, you don’t do that. I pass the ball you shoot okay? Stop passing the ball’ I was like dang, okay. That was something that made me want to be more aggressive you know, having players that are allowing you to play with your instincts and play with your strengths, it’s a blessing, but to have future Hall-of-Famers also saying you got what it takes to do this then it for sure takes it up to a whole another notch.”
That kind of talk definitely would have inspired Walker. To have a former MVP tell him to be more aggressive and shoot the ball would have given him a lot of confidence and we are seeing that with his play at the moment.
During this episode, he also said that he doesn’t care too much about trade rumors and the way he’s playing, the Lakers shouldn’t really be looking to ship him out, even if he might be one of their more valuable assets among the role players.
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