The Los Angeles Lakers can either give up multiple picks and trade away Russell Westbrook or try and run it back, hoping it works this time. But the early returns of that experiment were far from encouraging.
Westbrook became the team's scapegoat. He got into it with the fans, his family got tangled up in death threats and whatnot, and it seemed like this relationship was destined to fail more often than not.
However, Lakers' new coach Darvin Ham still has plenty of faith in the former MVP. Per Ham, people are counting him out way too soon, and it's just a matter of making the most of his talents.
Darvin Ham Has A Plan For Russell Westbrook
"(He was) Counted out prematurely," Ham told the media. "Counted out. Prematurely. I’ve had some great interactions with Russ, in person, over dinner, over the phone, over text messages. I love Russell Westbrook, man. Just his mentality, his approach. Just to see him, a guy of that magnitude and everything he’s done in the league to get hated on.
"But being me, I got a wholehearted plan, a clear plan on how I’m going to use him," the coach added. "I showed it to him, sat down, brought stuff up for him. I think he’s going to flourish. We ain’t going to try to curtail his energy. We’re just going to diversify it, redirect it."
Russell Westbrook Is A Lost Cause, Says Zach Lowe
But as excited as Ham is for coaching Westbrook, ESPN's Zach Lowe believes it's just a big waste of time. Per Lowe, Westbrook will never change his game regardless of how obvious it becomes that he needs to make adjustments:
"I think it's a lost cause," Lowe said. "Darvin Ham can say all these things in the media about how 'we are optimistic about the fit' and that they'll direct Russ's game into a direction for this team, which is code for 'he's gotta go all-in on defense'. He has to cut, he has to set screens for LeBron James. This is all the stuff we've been asking Russell Westbrook to do for 15 years, he never does it."
Well, there's a big sample size that could prove Lowe's argument here. Westbrook has been reluctant to change his game regardless of who he's playing with, and that's often been an issue. But who knows? Maybe he'll prove us all wrong.
