Lakers Darvin Ham Delivers Strong Message On Russell Westbrook

The Los Angeles Lakers traded a big chunk of their roster to get Russell Westbrook and head coach Darvin Ham connected well with him. However, getting Russ turned out to be a bad move for the Lakers and they decided to send him away. The front office struggled to find a trade partner and Lakers fans wanted him out. Everyone was so inpatient and fans even called him names.

Russ is out of the equation now, but head coach Ham has nothing but praise for him. He doesn’t think that Westbrook should be blamed for the disappointing season.

“And I told Russ, I said—and shout out to Russ, man. He takes a lot of blame, and everybody seems to want to talk stuff about him … but some of the stuff he has to endure, and he’s still a very, very highly capable basketball player,” Ham said on July 11 in the “#thisleague UNCUT” podcast. “I appreciate him for just giving it a chance and complying with what I wanted to do and just taking a bullet for the team.”

Lakers Ham found great position for Westbrook

Russ was a starter in his first season with the Lakers, but Ham turned him into a bench player last season.

“And like I told him, it’s not a demotion … okay, we got you, [Anthony Davis] and [LeBron James] in the starting lineup,” Ham detailed. “All of you guys need the ball, and most times you give it up, you’re going to go stand somewhere.

“Why not allow me to help you, help us by realigning the rotation to where now you’re coming off, and you get to dominate, dictate and do everything.”

Ham supports the veteran guard, but he finished the season with the Clippers. They were eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

Lakers head coach Darvin Ham joins the #thisleague UNCUT podcast LIVE from the NBA Summer League and talks about the Lakers being accused of "flopping" during their series against the Warriors with @ChrisBHaynes and @TheSteinLine.

FULL EPISODE: https://t.co/S8FuvV54q5 pic.twitter.com/QT5i2Hxecn

— FOX Sports Radio (@FoxSportsRadio) July 12, 2023

When it comes to Ham’s support for Westbrook, he knows that the veteran is an exceptional player with great skill set.

“People forget, man, when he came in from that reserve role, and we would put runners and shooters and rim rollers and finishers around him,” Ham said. “There’s times they were chanting MVP for Russ. He saved our a** a bunch of nights where we started off flat and he came in and he pushed the tempo. He brought that energy. And you look up, and now we’ve gone on a 12-to-2 or 10–0 run as soon as he stepped into the lineup off the bench.”