Russell Westbrook might have had a bad season last year, but the 2017 MVP can still be a problem, if only he does what’s expected of him
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Within five years Westbrook went from being the MVP of the league over the likes of prime LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, James Harden etc., to sliding down to no. 65th on ESPN’s best player list.
We have seen this from two more 75 Greatest Players of the NBA in the past two decades – Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson.
Both the superstar and face of multiple franchises went out of the league as free agents before choosing to become role players.
While Melo came to his senses and came back after accepting and moulding his game into a perfect catch-and-shoot guy, Al went to play outside the US and retire within a year.
Is the point guard of the Los Angeles Lakers going to suffer similar consequences? Not if he means what he is saying.
Russell Westbrook is ready to do whatever it takes for the Lakers to win
Although Westbrook’s whole game depends on purely athleticism unlike Melo and AI, he still can be a help leading the second unit in LA without changing much in his naturally aggressive game.
That doesn’t mean he has to start from the bench. The 9x All-Star can be a starter who plays more with the second unit than the first.
Commanding the reins when James and AD get their required rest every game, and they will need much of it to play the full season without injuries.
And the triple-double machine is ready to accept whatever role he is given to get the wins. He talked about it candidly with ESPN.
Didn’t this man just recently put his $30 million worth LA mansion up for sale?
Anyway, with him working on changing his jump shots and a stat suggesting he shot over 45% from corner threes last season, Darvin Ham can use him that way if their Plan A (whatever it is) fails.
Let’s see if Brodie can keep his ego aside and really play any role the Lakers expect and ask of him. Or will he walk back on what he just said? We’ll have to wait and watch.
