NBA: New Head Coach Darvin Ham sees Russell Westbrook as a significant LA Lakers contributor

In his first press conference, Darvin Ham seemed to clear the uncertainty around Russell Westbrook’s future as a laker. The Former Bucks assistant coach talked about how he plans to use Russell Westbrook under his coaching. Westbrook, who had his worst season since his breakout in NBA 2021-22, will have to improve his shooting tendencies, movement off the ball, and defensive effort under Coach Ham. In his press conference, Ham also praised Westbrook by calling him one of the best players the league has ever seen with a lot left in the tank.

When talking about his plans and thoughts about Russell Westbrook, Darvin Ham said, “Don’t get it messed up. Russell’s one of the best players our league has ever seen. And it’s still a ton left in that tank. I don’t know why people tend to try to write him off.”

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“I will approach him like I do every player I’ve ever encountered. We’ll talk about our running habits with the ball without the ball. I want him to return to being a pit bull on the defensive end. Everything else is going to flow from there. We’re going to implement different running habits that I think will benefit him and some other areas on the floor he’ll be able to attack from. I want him to set a tone defensively for our team. Get back to guarding, guarding, guarding. I want him to get back to defending at a championship level,” concluded Ham.