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LeBron James and Anthony Davis are desperate for Russell Westbrook to gain a foothold with the Lakers.
Russell Westbrook didn’t have the Los Angeles Lakers debut he was hoping for, but his teammates are doing their best to encourage the team’s new point guard. Westbrook scored eight points, five rebounds and four assists while shooting just 30.8% off the floor in the Lakers’ loss to the Warriors. LeBron James noted that Westbrook is « so tough on himself » and his best advice to the star was to go home and find something funny on Netflix.
« I told Russ to go home and see a comedy, someone 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 a game. I understand that you are [a] competitor, we are all competitors, and we all feel that way when we are not playing well or playing [our] ability, so I fully understand that too. But I just don’t want him to be so hard on himself.
« That was the only thing that hopefully gets through to him. Don’t be so strict with yourself and like I said you go home he will see three babies he has. You may sleep, but you will put a smile on his face and you will have a beautiful wife [and] family. So, at the end of the day you go home and [you’re] really like, ‘Okay, okay, that wasn’t that bad.’ It really isn’t that bad. «
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Lakers Big Man Anthony Davis hinted that Westbrook needs to be more aggressive offensively rather than involving his teammates. Davis wants an aggressive Westbrook to tell the newest Lakers star « is the reason we acted for you ».
« Be himself, I think often, and even preseason he wants everyone to be rightly involved That’s what he does, a triple-double, « Davis stated during his post-game press conference on October 21st. « So you want to get those assists and get the guys to open the lane for them, but often when you get there they fan out again and now he’s got a wide open layup or a dunk, but he’s looking for it. » » happen.
« So we just want him to be himself, be aggressive, Russell Westbrook. Be the reason we traded for you and when you did everyone else will find out how to play with him. So it’s a learning experience and like I said, game one for our first game and we’ll keep building around him and making him more comfortable where he can have the games we’re used to. ”
After his Westbrook wasn’t eager to discuss his first appearance with the Lakers. Westbrook noted that he « didn’t get much » from his debut as the Lakers lost the match.
« I’ll go see and see, » Westbrook said during his post-game press conference. « Go see a movie and see, but we didn’t win, so maybe a lot, but not a lot, at least from my point of view. »
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