Don't worry, Los Angeles Lakers fans. In wake of a culture-shifting phone call between Russell Westbrook, LeBron James and Anthony Davis, rookie head coach Darvin Ham knows exactly how to maximize the 2017 MVP alongside his superstar teammates.
During an appearance on The VC Show with Vince Carter and Ros Gold-Onwude, Ham detailed his plans to not only placate a frustrated Westbrook, but change his game the way no prior head coach ever has.
“My thing is, let's give him a chance to see how he does in a Darvin Ham system, with Darvin Ham's principles, before we just start dismissing him. One of my first goals, and I was able to do that, was to connect with him and try to make an appeal to him like, ‘Look, man, what's in the rearview mirror is in the rearview mirror. We got this big windshield of opportunity that we're looking forward. I'm gonna be able to move you around and use you in different ways.' I think it's gonna be phenomenal.”
"My thing is let's give him a chance to see how he does in a Darvin Ham system with Darvin Ham's principles before we just start dismissing him."
Darvin Ham wants to give Russell Westbrook a legit shot under him with the Lakers 👀
(via @ESPNNBA)pic.twitter.com/UIAqot5Ulg
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) July 19, 2022
Fingers crossed!
Westbrook has followed up a disastrous first season in Los Angeles with an even more dramatic summer.
As calls for his trade to the Brooklyn Nets for Kyrie Irving intensified, he and LeBron James set the internet ablaze by snubbing each other at Las Vegas Summer League. Westbrook parted ways with his longtime agent days later, causing Thad Foucher to release an unprecedented statement acknowledging his now-former client's desire to move on from the Lakers.
Los Angeles is between a rock and a hard place when it comes to Westbrook.
His trade value has never been lower, and every subliminal message or reported rumor involving the Lakers' powers that be will only make it more difficult for the team to trade him. Ham is hardly the first coach who's tried to reinvent Westrook's game as he ages, either. Frank Vogel might still be coaching in Los Angeles if Westbrook had heeded his similar calls last season.
Ultimately, it's extremely difficult to imagine Russell Westbrook wearing purple and gold in 2022-23. If the Lakers decide to throw in two future first-round picks in a prospective swap for Irving, Westbrook will likely be sent to Brooklyn, from where he'll eventually hit the buyout market. There's just no other outcome that would vault Los Angeles toward championship contention, optimistic rhetoric like Ham's notwithstanding.
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