Lakers’ Russell Westbrook ‘Accepted’ Darvin Ham’s Challenge to Be More Versatile

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New Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham said Thursday that veteran guard Russell Westbrook is up to the challenge he posed to him recently in terms of playing a more complete game next season.

Appearing on the Dan Patrick Show (h/t Ashish Mathur of Heavy.com), Ham said the following about his conversation with Westbrook:

“And one thing I mentioned to Russ is the way I’m built, the success I’ve seen—especially most recently in the last nine years and the last four years being with Coach Bud in Milwaukee, also in Atlanta, but in Milwaukee—one thing we always preached and will continue to preach to be our foundation of our teams is a defensive mindset, being able to defend at a high level.

“And I challenged him and he accepted the challenge. That’s a part of the word ‘sacrifice’ we use. And being able to move him around in different spaces on the floor as we go back on the offensive end. Sometimes he’s going to be off the ball slashing. Sometimes he’s going to play in the dunker. Sometimes he’s going to be initiating things. He may post up a little bit. He may be the screener in pick-and-rolls.”

Ham added that he wants Westbrook to “diversify his plan of attack,” and desires for Westbrook, LeBron James and Anthony Davis to all have a significant hand in the team’s success next season.

After a rough first season with the Lakers in 2021-22, Westbrook is expected to exercise his $47.1 million player option and remain with the team next season.

This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis.

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