It was a rocky ride for nearly a year-and-a-half, but it’s hard to be unmoved by the sincerity of Russell Westbrook’s final public comments as a Laker.
In the closing minutes of a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, coach Darvin Ham decided against subbing him in — a decision several key people in the locker room, including Ham, would later second-guess after the game got away. Westbrook was not on the bench for much of the fourth quarter as the game was ending.
When asked for clarity — if he had been in the tunnel on the bike — Westbrook laughed, as he often did when being asked something he didn’t like by reporters (in what felt like a kind of defense mechanism). Of course he was on the bike, he said. After some back-and-forth, he laid out what seems now like a personal credo of how he believes teammates should conduct themselves.
“I’ve been all-in since Day 1,” he said. “I’m a very supportive guy and teammate since I’ve been in this league. I compete every night, I do my job. When they ask of me, I go out and compete. I make no complaints, I do what I need to do. I’m grateful for an opportunity. If my number’s called, I’m always ready, and if not, I sit there and get warm, because I wanna make sure I have an opportunity.”
That’s how Westbrook, the 34-year-old MVP, wishes to be regarded: a good teammate, a leader and an example to the locker room. The confounding, difficult legacy of his tenure with the Lakers is that he often was these things — but his erratic play, his brash and combative nature and his inability to course-correct or adjust his on-court style clashed with the impression he wished to give.
After the deal on Wednesday that shipped him to Utah (but in reality, to parts still unknown), the lasting legacy of Westbrook’s tenure as a Laker is, of course, tied into the team’s record. It was a profound disappointment, with a 58-79 bottom line, missing the playoffs last season and on track to miss it again this…
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