Westbrook ready to make Lakers better as he joins hometown team

The
nine-time
All-Star
fulfilled
a
childhood
dream
in
joining
the
Los
Angeles
Lakers
after
a
trade
from
the
Washington
Wizards.

The
32-year-old
was
born
in
nearby
Long
Beach
and
grew
up
a
fan
of
the
team,
but
admitted
he
was
not
sure
he
would
get
the
chance.

“Being
from
LA,
you
always
wish
that
you
could
play
for
your
home
team,”
Westbrook
said
at
his
introductory
news
conference.

“That’s
definitely
something
that
always
circled
around
in
my
mind.
Maybe
one
day?
But
I
always
would
come
back
and
be
like,
‘Ah,
that
probably
won’t
happen.’
I
just
had
to
wait
and
see.

“But
now
that
we’re
here,
I’m
going
to
take
full
advantage
of
it.”

Considering
who
he
will
be
playing
alongside,
there’s
every
reason
to
believe
he
will.

Russell
Westbrook
talks
about
playing
alongside
LeBron
James
and
fitting
in
with
the

@Lakers.

pic.twitter.com/KmRcPuSVaM

—
NBA
(@NBA)

August
10,
2021

Westbrook
joins
LeBron
James
and
Anthony
Davis
on
a
remade
Lakers
team
that
will
also
feature
Carmelo
Anthony
–
an
impressive
array
of
star
power
even
for
a
franchise
long
associated
with
glamour.

After
averaging
a
triple-double
for
the
fourth
time
in
five
seasons,
Westbrook
knows
he
will
not
have
to
focus
as
much
on
scoring
as
he
has
in
the
past.

Likewise,
his
arrival
will
take
some
of
the
ball-handling
and
distribution
load
from
James,
ideally
freeing
him
up
on
the
offensive
end.

“I’m
coming
to
a
championship-caliber
team
and
my
job
is
to
make
sure
that
I’m
able
to
make
his
game
easy
for
[James],”
Westbrook
said.
“I’ll
find
ways
to
do
that
throughout
the
game.”

That
philosophy
does
not
stop
with
helping
the
already
exalted
James
elevate
his
game,
either.

Westbrook
is
already
excited
to
get
in
the
gym
with
a
group
of
incoming
veterans
including
Dwight
Howard,
Trevor
Ariza
and
Kent
Bazemore.

“The
roster
is
great,”
Westbrook
said.
“A
bunch
of
guys
that
I’ve
already
known
previously,
which
is
even
better.

“As
I
come
into
the
season,
I’m
always
looking
at
the
roster
and
figuring
out
how
I
can
make
other
guys
better,
simple
as
that.

“I
want
to
be
able
to
leave
an
impact
on
people
when
they
either
play
with
me
or
come
across
me,
and
I’ll
find
ways
to
do
that
with
our
roster.
I’m
really
looking
forward
to
getting
together
with
all
the
guys
and
figuring
it
out.”