The Los Angeles Lakers dropped to 0-3 on Sunday night, and the team’s head coach offered a strong response when asked about his decision to bench point guard Russell Westbrook late in the game.
Last season was a disaster for the Lakers. However, with no cap space and few draft assets of real value, they could make few offseason moves and the majority of the team’s core from last year is back for the 2022-2023 campaign. While there is hope that Anthony Davis can have a bounceback year after dealing with injuries, and Lebron James still remains a high-level talent in the league, there are big concerns growing about Russell Westbrook.
Last season was so bad at times for the former NBA MVP, that he was dubbed “Westbrick” by frustrated LA fans. While there was hope that new head coach Darvin Ham could get the best out of the nine-time All-Star, it seems that not much has changed under the Ham regime.
Related: WATCH – Russell Westbrook confronts heckler after recent Lakers loss
Originally, it looked as if Westbrook would be open to becoming the team’s sixth man, however, the 33-year-old quickly found his way out of that position before the season started. Yet, as a starter, he has still gotten off to a slow start and had an awful 0-11 performance in the Lakers’ loss to the Clippers earlier this week.
Los Angeles Lakers Darvin Ham has no concerns about Russell Westbrook’s possible hurt feelings
Unsurprisingly, a 4-15 shooting night landed Westbrook on the bench late in their 106-104 defeat to the Trail Blazers on Sunday. After the game, a member of the media asked head coach Darvin Ham if he was at all worried about his star guard being bothered by riding the pine late in games again. The first time headman was blunt in his response about Westbrook being hurt by the decision.
“We don’t have time for people to be in their feelings”
-Darvin Ham on benching Westbrook (via dave mcmenamin)
Respect to the new coach for sending a clear message to his team and to Westbrook. The only downside is if they can’t move him sooner than later, he certainly could be the type of malcontent that divides the locker room and makes his first season as a top coach miserable.