The inevitable has arrived — or so it may seem. According to reports, Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham has finally decided to have Russell Westbrook come off the bench. This could happen as soon as Friday if Russ is able to return from his hamstring injury to face the Minnesota Timberwolves.

This has been a long time coming, and the fact that the Lakers have started off the season 0-3 has further pushed the coaching staff to seriously consider demoting Westbrook to a bench role. As it turns out, however, Russ appears to be working with coach Ham in order to facilitate this major transition. This report comes via NBA guru Shams Charania of The Athletic:

“Darvin Ham and Russell Westbrook, from what I'm told, have been working together to try to figure out a solution and find a best role for him to really impact this team,” Shams said. “The Lakers have one of the best defensive teams in the league so far, so credit Darvin Ham and his staff for that.”

Based on this report, it sounds like Westbrook is going to be amenable to his move to the second unit. There has been a lot of talk surrounding Russ' unwillingness to make this big sacrifice, but according to Shams, it seems like he's willing to get on the same page with his coach. At the end of the day, this decision will be made with the betterment of the team in mind.

Then again, you have to note that this is Russell Westbrook we're talking about here. He's not exactly the best team player out there, so it remains to be seen how he'll actually react to what appears to be an inevitable move to the bench. His actions will clearly speak much louder than words.