Lakers’ Russell Westbrook Showed ‘Willingness to Trust’ Darvin Ham on Bench Role

The 0-4 Los Angeles Lakers are just one of three winless teams remaining in the NBA, leaving the franchise searching for answers ahead of a tough stretch of games.

The possibility of Russell Westbrook coming off the bench was brought up again Friday by Lakers head coach Darvin Ham, who said the guard appears willing to trust the first-year leader.

Westbrook has averaged just 10.3 points on 28.9 percent shooting (8.3 percent from three-point range) in three games (all starts). He is heading to the bench now, however, after ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Westbrook will be a reserve for the foreseeable future.

L.A. is playing the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night, and the reported starting five are LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Patrick Beverley, Lonnie Walker IV and Damian Jones, who practiced together at shootaround, per Wojnarowski. However, AD ended up sitting due to lower back tightness, and Troy Brown Jr. replaced him in the lineup.

Westbrook is a nine-time All-Star, nine-time All-NBA player, two-time scoring champion and one-time NBA MVP. He has also averaged a triple-double on four occasions, most recently in 2020-21 with the Washington Wizards.

After that season, the Wizards traded the 15-year NBA veteran to the Lakers, and it has not gone well in purple and gold. Westbrook struggled last year, and those issues have only gotten worse this year (albeit in a three-game sample size).

Ultimately, L.A. has to find answers quickly with a tough schedule ahead. Their next six games are against teams with winning records, including Zion Williamson and the 3-1 New Orleans Pelicans and reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and the 3-2 Denver Nuggets.

For now, the Lakers hope to get in the win column versus Minnesota, which will feature Westbrook on the bench for the first time since his rookie year (2008-09).