As soon as Russell Westbrook's trade to the Los Angeles Lakers was official, the former league MVP wasted no time in trying to recruit more players to join him in Hollywood. At least this is how fellow newcomer Trevor Ariza felt when Westbrook called him just 20 minutes after his trade was formalized.
In a recent interview with Harrison Faigen of Silver Screen & Roll, Ariza revealed how Westbrook's effort in trying to recruit him to LA not long after the former Washington Wizards guard was announced as the newest member of the Purple & Gold:
“It’s funny because Russ got traded, and 20 minutes after he was traded he was on my phone,” Ariza said, laughing. “So I don’t know if he was telling me he was happy to be home, or he wanted to go to dinner or whatever, I just know that he called my phone like ‘yo, what are you doing? Where are you at? I need to talk to you, I need to see you.’”
Ariza did not provide the details of their meeting and what they discussed. This is actually pretty smart considering the league's stringent measures against tampering. Technically, free agency had not yet started when the Lakers traded for Westbrook, and at that time, Ariza was still a member of the Miami Heat.
Nevertheless, Ariza hinted at how he and Russ, a fellow UCLA alum, continued to keep the communication lines open over the next few days:
“We kept in constant communication, and then it just so happened that I’m here,” Ariza said, again with a knowing smile.
This will be Ariza's second stint with the Lakers. The last time he was in LA was in 2009 and incidentally, the Lakers went all the way to win the title that same season.
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