Even though many thought this new season would be good for Russell Westbrook, the 2022 NBA preseason has shown that Russ will continue to struggle, at least as part of the starting lineup.
The Purple and Gold have big questions to answer regarding Russ, and things could get more interesting to them now that the regular season is just a couple of days away from its beginning. In the last preseason game, Westbrook started the match on the bench, but the Lakers couldn’t see much of that, as he suffered a hamstring injury and left the game.
Darvin Ham stated before that he would make whatever adjustment he needed to make this team a competitive squad and he’s already showing that, sending Russ to the bench, in an attempt to help Westbrook and LeBron James improve their level.
Russell Westbrook Would Keep Coming Off The Bench For Lakers
This appears to be the rule now for the Lakers, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN reports that the 17-time NBA champions will continue to ‘explore’ bringing Russ off the bench once the regular season starts.
The Lakers’ most optimistic outlook for Westbrook is that Ham will get through to him in a way that Vogel couldn’t, and the nine-time All-Star will have a bounce-back season with some better effort defensively and better discretion offensively. Ham closed out the preseason by bringing Westbrook off the bench, a lineup the Lakers will continue to explore during the regular season, sources told ESPN.
Ham revealed that Russ didn’t complain when he was sent to the bench, as he wants to do anything so the Lakers can win. It remains to be seen if he’ll stay happy to be the team’s sixth man, but right now, Russ looks ready to take on any role Darvin Ham gives him on the team.
