"He’ll say, 'What did you do exactly when you played in this league?'" - Skip Bayless claims Russell Westbrook won't have respect for Darvin Ham because of his playing career
Darvin Ham and Russell Westbrook appear to have started their working relationship on a great note. The LA Lakers point guard attended Ham’s introductory press conference and welcomed the new coach to the team in an Instagram post.
However, FS1's Skip Bayless believes the relationship will soon go south. On "Skip and Shannon's: Undisputed," Bayless said does not expect Westbrook to have much respect for Ham, considering how little success the latter had during his playing career.
“As much as he’s gonna try to preach to Russ and teach Russ, in the end, Russ will have little to no respect for Darvin Ham because he’ll say, ‘What did you do exactly when you played in this league?’
“In his career he [Ham] averaged 3 PPG, 2 RPG and .5 APG, averaging 12 minutes a game, taking 2 shots a game. Not exactly “Westbrookian” numbers, right? It’s not like Russ will say, ‘You played, you know.’ In Russ’ eyes, this equates to, ‘You didn’t even really play!’”
Bayless' prediction might not come true, though. Westbrook had a good working relationship with Scott Brooks, who didn’t have a stellar NBA career. The former MVP played seven seasons under Brooks with the OKC Thunder before re-uniting at the Washington Wizards for a year.
Scott Brooks thinks Russell Westbrook can “probably” go down as the 2nd best point guard of all-time
(h/t @SportsCenter) https://t.co/avtpwVoyL2
Two seasons ago, Brooks called Westbrook the second-best point guard in NBA history.
.@WindhorstESPN isn't confident Darvin Ham can get Russell Westbrook to change his game:
"Basically what Russ did at the end of that Laker season, was take no personal accountability. ... And blamed most of it on his coach Frank Vogel." https://t.co/ZffQEKwg9T
Darvin Ham could ask Russell Westbrook to do more of what Frank Vogel asked the point guard to do
As long as LeBron James wears purple and gold, there’s no way Russell Westbrook will be the primary ball handler. James is arguably the best passer in the NBA, and his reading of the game is second to none.
Darvin Ham previously discussed using Westbrook in various ways. He suggested that the two-time scoring champion could be asked to set screens and drive to the basket, a role he performed under former head coach Frank Vogel.
New #Lakers Head Coach Darvin Ham discusses how he plans on incorporating Russ Westbrook.
For Coach Ham's full appearance: youtube.com/watch?v=0qnteo… https://t.co/hcM5O4tvoO
Westbrook, however, struggled in such a system and Skip Bayless's prediction could become a reality if Darvin Ham can't convince the mercurial guard to embrace his role.