Will Russell Westbrook be in the Los Angeles Lakers' Opening Night starting lineup? According to Patrick Beverley, he will “not come off the bench.”

[Russell Westbrook is] not gonna come off the bench,” Beverley said. “We all know that. That was just to try to see how it works with the second unit. I need him in the first unit with me. [The media] trying to kill my boy Russ, man.”

Patrick Beverley and Russell Westbrook seem to have squashed any prior beef they had with one another. Beverley believes in Russ and thinks he will indeed start for LA. He then offered even more praise towards Westbrook.

“But we all know he's a Hall of Famer,” Beverley said. “He's a starter, he's going to be our starting point guard. The media takes that and runs with that.”

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Russell Westbrook's role with the Lakers was a steady talking point throughout the offseason. Many people wondered whether Russ was headed for a bench role following his lackluster 2021-2022 campaign.

Westbrook's status for Opening Night was recently in question due to a minor injury. However, he's still expected to suit up against the Golden State Warriors to kickoff the Lakers' 2022-2023 season. And if Patrick Beverley is correct, then Russell Westbrook will be starting for LA as well. This Warriors-Lakers matchup to open the regular season features no shortage of star-power and projects to be an exciting affair.

We will continue to monitor updates on the LA Lakers' starting lineup ahead of Game 1 of the season.