After James Harden and Kevin Durant left the Oklahoma City Thunder, Russell Westbrook doesn’t have much success on his playoff campaigns. Since the 2017 NBA playoffs, Westbrook lost four out of his five first-round series. He, James Harden and the Rockets bowed down to LeBron James-led Los Angeles Lakers in the second-round of the 2020 Western Conference Semifinals.
Now, Westbrook has a chance on playing with one of the biggest superstars in the league, LeBron James.
Recently, Westbrook talked about playing with James. Westbrook claimed that LeBron knows what it takes to win a championship with his ten NBA Finals appearance, winning four NBA championships.
“LeBron out of anybody else, he knows what it takes to win a championship,” Westbrook told ESPN.
“My understanding of the commitment, understanding the sacrifices that we are both going to have to make, including myself and [Anthony Davis] as well for the betterment on the team, and finding ways to be able to win a championship. And that’s the ultimate goal. So anything along the way we, we cannot get distracted, cannot get the deterred from our ultimate goal.” The new Lakers point guard added.
Westbrook added that playing with a player like James will definitely help his game and he could focus on other things inside the court.
“When you get a chance to play against one of the greatest players of all time and consistently, it helps my game,” The 2018 MVP said.
“It helps my preparation, makes me focus more on the things I need to focus on to get to a point where I can sit down and say, ‘I’ve accomplished everything I can accomplish in this league and now I’m lucky enough to be able to play alongside him.’ So I’m looking forward to that, looking forward to the things we can accomplish here together this season.”
Many critiques were doubting the tandem of the two superstars as the they were both ball-dominant players. Both players should sacrifice some scoring touches and prioritize team-style of play. The team have too many scoring options.
Players like Kendrick Nunn, Malik Monk, Carmelo Anthony and Kent Bazemore can provide instant scoring off the bench. All players have a decent to excellent three-point shooting percentages too.
The Lakers will start their campaign with a game against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors on October 18, 10:00pm EST.
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