Russell Westbrook did not have the kind of Los Angeles Lakers debut he had hoped, but his teammates are doing their best to encourage the team’s new point guard. Westbrook posted eight points, five rebounds and four assists while shooting just 30.8% from the floor in the Lakers’ loss to the Warriors. LeBron James noted that Westbrook is “so hard on himself” and his best advice for the star was to go home and find something funny on Netflix.
“I told Russ to go home and watch a comedy, somebody could put a smile on his face,” James told reporters during his October 21 press conference. “[He’s] so hard on himself, I told him, don’t be so hard on yourself, it’s one game. I understand that you [are a] competitor, we all competitors and we all feel like [that] when we don’t play well or play [to our] ability, so I completely understand that as well. But I just don’t want him to be so hard on himself.
“That was the one thing that hopefully get[s] through to him. Don’t be so hard on himself and like I said, you go home, he’s gonna see three babies that he has. They might be asleep, but they will put a smile on his face and you got a beautiful wife [and] family. So, at the end of the day, you go home and [you’re] really like, ‘okay, alright that was not that bad.’ It’s really not that bad.”
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Davis: ‘Be Russell Westbrook, Be the Reason Why We Traded for You’
Lakers big man Anthony Davis indicated that Westbrook needs to be more aggressive offensively rather than looking to get his teammates involved. Davis wants to see an aggressive Westbrook telling the newest Lakers star to, “be the reason why we traded for you.”
“Be himself, I think a lot of times and even in the preseason, he wants to get everyone involved, rightfully so, that’s what he do, having a triple-double,” Davis explained during his October 21 postgame press conference. “So, you want to get those assists and get guys going to open up the lane for them, but a lot of times when you get there they fan back out and now he have a wide open layup or a dunk, but he’s looking to pass.
“So, we just want him to be himself, be aggressive, be Russell Westbrook. Be the reason why we traded for you and once you do that, everyone else will figure out how to play around him. So, it’s a learning experience and like I say, game one for our first game and we will continue to build around him and make him more comfortable where he can have those those games that we’re used to.”
Westbrook: ‘Not Much’ to Learn From His Lakers Debut
After his performance, Westbrook was not eager to discuss his initial outing with the Lakers. Westbrook noted there was “not much” he could take away from his debut given the Lakers lost the matchup.
“I’ll look at it and see,” Westbrook explained during his postgame press conference. “Watch some film and see, but we didn’t win, so maybe some stuff, but not much, at least from my perspective.”
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LeBron James, Anthony Davis Send Message to Russell Westbrook