There have been conflicting reports surrounding Russell Westbrook and his current situation with the Los Angeles Lakers. Some say that he's been working towards a move away from LA, while others claim that he hasn't requested a trade.
Amid all this confusion, new Lakers head coach Darvin Ham is calling for unity. In a recent appearance on the All the Smoke podcast with Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes, the 49-year-old coach made it abundantly clear that he expects every single person on his squad to be fully committed to the cause (h/t Jake Rogers of NBA Analysis Network):
“Competing at a high level. We’re going to be together. The most together team always does well, always wins at the end of the day,” Ham stated. “And accountability. We’re going to be tough. We’re going to be defensive-minded. That’s the side of the ball where you’re going to see the quickest and most drastic improvement and we’re going to share offensively.
“Again, we want everybody all in on what we’re doing. We don’t want anybody that’s second-guessing being a Laker or ‘Am I in the right place?’ or this, that and the third.”
To be clear, Ham did not take aim at Westbrook directly in his statement here. It was more of a general reminder for all of his players. Then again, there's no denying that among all the members of the team, it's Russell Westbrook who has been linked most heavily to a Lakers exit.
To be fair, this isn't all on Russ. It is also clear that LA wants to move on from the former league MVP after a disastrous debut season. Loyalty goes both ways.
For his part, however, Darvin Ham just wants to make sure that his entire squad is on the same page. He doesn't want anyone on the team if they don't want to be there in the first place.
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