As soon as the Los Angeles Lakers traded for Russell Westbrook, NBA fans doubted his fit with LeBron James. These two need the ball in their hands most of the time to be successful, which can create issues for them and head coach Frank Vogel.
Two weeks before Brodie was traded from the Washington Wizards, he met with LeBron and Anthony Davis, vowing to put their egos aside for the team’s sake. Even with that, plenty of people don’t think they can work well together.
Recently, James Harden was asked about this. In the 2019/20 NBA season, the Beard joined forces with Russ and had to enter a similar situation after the Houston Rockets traded him to the Brooklyn Nets in January.
Not everybody was convinced he could mesh well with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, but Harden proved them wrong, embracing a new role on the team. He thinks the Lakers need to work that out if they want to win it all next season. Still, Harden says they look good on paper, and when you have great players, they always find a way to make things work.
“They got to figure out the fit. On paper, they look great. They got vets, guys with experience. We got the same thing.”
James Harden gives his opinion on the Lakers for this upcoming season
"They got to figure out the fit. On paper, they look great" pic.twitter.com/rcEVGDffMs
— Nets Videos (@SNYNets) October 2, 2021
Curiously, the Lakers and Nets are expected to clash in the 2022 NBA Finals. They are the favorites in each conference thanks to their Big 3s. Still, doubts are surrounding these two squads and until the season starts, we won’t know if they’re capable of winning it all.
Harden is confident a healthy Nets team has no rival in the league, more so if the Lakers can’t find the way to play well with James and Westbrook on the court at the same time.
