Russell Westbrook on the second season with Los Angeles Lakers
Russell Westbrook on the second season with Los Angeles Lakers: Inside the conference room of his Avenue of the Stars headquarters, Russell Westbrook wore a bucket hat, flip-flops, and a broad grin.
With trade talks deadlocked and training camp just around the corner, Westbrook hardly had time to ponder the question: Do you feel wanted by the Los Angeles Lakers?
ESPN
Recent comments made by Westbrook to ESPN reflect this attitude. “All I have to do is my work. It doesn’t matter much either way if I’m wanted or not. “
“The most critical thing is that I come up to work and do my job like I always do: act professionally and play my hardest in competition.”
For Westbrook, 33, nothing has changed in his second year with the Lakers.
There is no guarantee that he will be an everyday starter, that he will remain a Laker, or that he will be dealt to a team that will retain him on the active roster. Even though he knows all that’s happening, he’s still happy on this late summer day.
This is exactly the kind of day he enjoys: an early morning workout followed by a visit to the office to catch up with his brother Ray and longtime friend and business partner, Donnell Beverly.
Westbrook finds solace in his family and friends’ unwavering and intense loyalty, even if there is some doubt about his broader base of Laker’s support in his hometown of Southern California.
Westbrook said that he returned to the gym earlier than ever before this offseason, had several conversations with Lakers head coach Darvin Ham over the summer, and feels a “connection” and “confidence” in Ham’s vision to use him in a way that contributes to the team’s success.
Statements
That could mean taking on a starting role or coming off the bench. Westbrook has stated, “I’m all in on doing whatever it takes for this team to win.” I’m ready for whatever may come my way.
Although Westbrook, James, and Davis only played in 21 games together last season, he is optimistic about their future because of their communication.
A combination of Westbrook, LeBron James, and himself “may be unstoppable in my perspective,” he remarked.
Westbrook is not here to argue that his 2021–22 season was an outlier.
There’s no way he will come here and admit that he had to work hard to maintain his self-assurance after the Lakers’ disastrous season.
Declarations
That’s not anything I had to fight,” Westbrook added. “I fought back an emotional response about how it might make my loved ones feel. That stood out to me as crucial.
That’s not me; I’m not lacking in confidence. Although there were instances last season when I felt I could have and should have played better, I still maintain complete faith in my abilities. I realize that losing games is part of playing in the NBA.
“The only thing it influenced for me was its impact on the people closest to me — my parents, dad, wife, brother, close friends.
As a family, we’ve never experienced anything like it. Having my children in the arena when I was being booed was the hardest part.
“First, I’d reassure my wife, mom, and dad that everything is fine. Being a veteran of the league has helped me adjust to the pressures of playing professionally.”
But with COVID, the bubble, they had only been allowed to see a few games in the last two years. So [this time] last year, it was all kinds of fantastic, and then it wasn’t any fun for me at all…
Comments
“Having a game room in the house was the realization of a lifelong ambition. However, I wasn’t as excited about it as my friends and neighbors from childhood. However, things did not go as I had envisioned them [this time last year].”
Nothing about the Lakers’ past season went according to plan, but Westbrook gets the chance to try again with Los Angeles.
There are probably no scenarios in which Westbrook is back with the Lakers on a new contract in 2023-24. It may be only a few in which the Lakers do not continue to try to leverage Westbrook’s expiring contract, and draft picks into a trade for multiple rotation players — or maybe even a star player.
Westbrook spent much of the summer trying to prove his dedication to the Lakers by attending news conferences for Ham and Patrick Beverley, playing in Las Vegas Summer League with the Lakers young players, and spending a lot of time at the team’s practice facility.
Remarks
Westbrook emphasized, “I’m not even close to being done.” “To be able to compete year after year is a tremendous blessing, and all I can do to make the most of it for as long as I play is to train my mind and body for it.
“I know I’ll mess up sometimes. At times, I won’t play well. There will be stretches and periods where my performance suffers.”
“That’s on me; I know I could’ve played better at various points in the past year. I’m more ready for the year ahead than in previous years. That’s the part I’m anticipating the most. Forget about any difficulties; I’ve got it to help me through them.”
Westbrook smiles and pauses when asked if he expects to have a breakout season: “Not in the slightest, but maybe other people see things differently than I do? I can see how that would be shocking to some.”
At the present time, Westbrook is still a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. Whether or not he is welcome, he will show up to the gym and compete and do everything Ham tells him to do to play winning basketball.
Time may be running out, but Russell Westbrook is sure he can change the outcome of his Los Angeles chapter.