The Russell Westbrook bench experiment is going better than expected. The team is 2-1 after finally picking up a couple of victories and nobody is happier about it than Darvin Ham.
The Lakers head coach was vocal after their come-from-behind win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday about one of his personal goals for Russell Westbrook – Sixth Man of the Year.
“Trust me, Russ had a hell of a night, man,” said Darvin Ham, via ClutchPoints' Michael Corvo. “In the last 3 games, he's been phenomenal. One of my goals is, selfishly, is to get him in the conversation for the Sixth Man of the Year at some point. And why not start now? … His fingerprints were definitely all over this game.”
In the last three contests, Westbrook has been a massive net positive, both statistically and with the eye test, during his stints on the floor. He's still been a triple-double threat but in much more controlled doses.
Benchbrook in 3 games:
13 PTS | 7 REB | 9 AST | W
18 PTS | 8 REB | 8 AST | W
18 PTS | 8 REB | 3 AST | LShooting 46% and is a +22. pic.twitter.com/jIHf78CkkN
— StatMuse (@statmuse) November 3, 2022
Convincing Russell Westbrook to come off the bench was an extremely risky gambit. The former MVP has been vocal about how coming off the bench literally hurts his body. More losing and not starting likely would have exacerbated the tensions in the locker room.
But instead, it looks like Darvin Ham has made good on his promise – at least for these last couple of games – to find a way to revive Russell Westbrook's value on the Lakers.
It's just been two wins, but that's two more than the Lakers had last week.
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