One week into Los Angeles Lakers training camp, it's time to check in on the juiciest early-season storyline surrounding the team: Will Russell Westbrook be the Lakers' starting point guard when their season tips off at the Chase Center on Oct. 18?
We've learned some notable items about the 2022-23 Lakers thus far. LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Kendrick Nunn are 100 percent healthy. Darvin Ham set the tone with a defensive-focused film session before the first practice. Ham is deploying a drop-heavy “centerfield” defensive system. He's placing rectangles around the floor to implement his “one-in, four-out” offense that should improve the Lakers' spacing.
However, we don't know yet who will start at point guard (not to mention center and shooting guard). Most likely, though, it will be…
Russell Westbrook
Westbrook is the only returning Lakers starter in danger of a demotion. Here were the team's most frequent starters last season: Russ (78 starts), LeBron (56), Avery Bradley (45), AD (40), Malik Monk (37), Stanley Johnson (27), Dwight Howard (27), Talen Horton-Tucker (19), Austin Reaves (19). Besides LeBron/AD/Russ, only Reaves is back, and will likely start at the two-guard (Troy Brown Jr., Patrick Beverley, and Kendrick Nunn are in contention). The Lakers will start either Damian Jones or Thomas Bryant at center.
Ham, for as often as he's hyped up Westbrook, has never assured him the starting role. He deflected when asked about it at his introductory press conference (Westbrook, in attendance, scoffed at the question). He's repeatedly laid out his vision for Westbrook as a team-first, defensively-focused role player who can channel his athleticism into disruptive off-ball movement. Ham has insisted that Westbrook has said all the right things behind-the-scenes about his commitment to being that guy (though Westbrook's former agent's statement implied otherwise).
Still, the coach has been reluctant to name a starting five.
“We’re a ways away,” Ham said at Media Day when asked if Russ will start. “We have several options. We’ll see. We have more than enough options that we’re comfortable with.”
Ham has downplayed the importance of starting. Davis, for instance, will close games at the 5.
“At the end of the day, it’s really minutes,” Ham said. “People get so caught up in who’s starting and this that and the third. I think it’s really the minutes. And for me, it’s about who finishes the game as well. That’s almost just as important, if not more important, than who starts.”
However, starting clearly matters to players — especially prideful, accomplished, max-contract guys like Russ. So far, the open competition has led to a heightened intensity at Lakers practices, which is perhaps Ham's plan all along.
“I mean, everybody wants to start,” said Juan Toscano-Anderson. “Let’s not sit here and act like guys don’t want to start. Now, is starting the biggest deal in the world? No. I mean, everybody just wants to play. … So we’re going to compete.”
So far, Westbrook has shown up. Ham has spoken glowingly about his demeanor in practice and singled him out — along with LeBron, AD, and Beverley — as engaged tone-setters through one week. Later in the week, Ham said he could “absolutely” see the Lakers' highest-paid player starting, though stopped short of tapping him for the job. Westbrook has put a smile on his face and said he'll do whatever is asked of him.
“I know there’s this narrative that’s being thrown out there that I never said, you know what I’m saying?” Ham said when asked again about Russ starting, somewhat walking back his Media Day vagueness. “Like, it’s crazy. I mean, what goes in this building, what goes on with the conversations with Rob, Russ and myself, his agent … You have to hold your tongue a lot, choose not to speak on things. But then people draw different scenarios out of your silence, which is crazy.”
Beverley will assuredly do the things — grittiness/hustle/defense/spacing — the Lakers want in their role players (well, maybe not cutting). Dennis Schroder, who is yet to arrive in camp due to visa issues, offers those qualities, too. Reaves and Nunn may, frankly, be more useful players than Westbrook at this point, and represent cleaner fits with LeBron and AD.
The Lakers play their first preseason game on Oct. 3. I assume Westbrook will start that game. Ultimately, Ham — who has organizational autonomy to make decisions that weren't afforded to Frank Vogel — risks Westbrook tuning him out if he gives Beverley, of all people, the initial nod at PG.
But Russ will have to prove it throughout the preseason. Ham is establishing his culture: Play defense, embrace operating within the system, and complement the stars. If not, come off the bench, play elsewhere, or not at all. The onus is on Russ to adapt and retain the job he's had for 14 years.
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