Road to Revival: What Westbrook means for the Lakers

Russell Westbrook is a stat-padder, loaded with flaws too substantial to overcome. Anthony Davis is soft and unable to stay healthy. LeBron James is washed, sent packing after the first round of the playoffs for the first time in his career. Carmelo Anthony is incapable of contributing to winning basketball, too selfish before and too old now. 

These narratives are adding fuel to the fire for a team that needs no extra motivation. 

No longer on the road to repeat, the Los Angeles Lakers are on a new path: the road to revival. 

Organizations across sports garner extremely different expectations. Take USC, for example, firing Clay Helton despite winning 65% of his games as head coach. Sounds pretty good, but at USC, that is not enough. The prestige and historic success of the University makes it a top-10 program, and with that comes top-10 expectations.

It’s a similar story with the Lakers — first round exits simply will not cut it. 

This storied franchise doesn’t hang 17 banners in Staples Center without having legitimate championship aspirations, especially when guys like Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and now James wear the purple and gold. 

This season is very much championship-or-bust for this team. They have too much talent to not have their sights set on the Larry O’Brien trophy.

That’s exactly what general manager Rob Pelinka signed up for when he prioritized talent over fit during the offseason. Adding a dreadful shooter in Westbrook next to mediocre shooters in James and Davis feels like seeing someone wearing socks with sandals: It just doesn’t fit. 

The Lakers were on the verge of acquiring guard Buddy Hield from Sacramento, eventually backtracking into a deal for Westbrook. 

Hield would have slid perfectly into the starting lineup. He was one of just five players to shoot at least six catch-and-shoot threes per game last season, nailing almost 40% of those shots. 

The addition of Hield while also keeping Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who was shipped to Washington in the Westbrook trade, would have given the Lakers versatile lineups with the ability to defend and shoot the three — two necessities in the modern NBA. 

But Westbrook is too talented to pass up. He literally averaged a triple-double last season — for the fourth time in five seasons. Westbrook is a scary player to go up against. What’s even scarier is a hungry, motivated version of Westbrook — and he’s got something to prove. 

If he wants to be in the conversation of the best point guards of all time, he knows he needs that elusive championship. 

The fit is clunky but man, Westbrook, James and Davis. It almost feels unbelievable that we will see all three future Hall of Famers on the same team in one month’s time. 

The question is and always will be health. The main objective is to get the Big 3 to the playoffs in one piece — easier said than done — with relatively good seeding. This is exactly why James wanted Westbrook. 

James is 36 years old, turning 37 this season, coming off a high ankle sprain just months ago and entering his 19th NBA season. Westbrook takes a tremendous load off James’ shoulders during the regular season. James could rest several games since Westbrook and Davis are enough to win regular season games without him. 

Westbrook’s endless motor will sustain the high energy and intensity that James simply cannot give every single night anymore. If James can lean on Westbrook and get to the playoffs healthy, a chance to win that championship is high, regardless of the fit. 

Pelinka deserves a ton of credit for bringing the Lakers back to the top again, generating buzz that only the Lakers can bring. Johnson played a huge part in bringing James in 2018, but Pelinka has followed that up with right moves, and his latest, adding Mr. Triple Double, is the cherry on top. 

We are all burning with curiosity. We will all be tuning in during the season to see what the LakeShow looks like, because no one has a clue right now. And that is exactly the type of national attention the Lakers want. 

Bravo, Rob Pelinka. 

Sahil Kurup is a sophomore writing a column about the Los Angeles Lakers season. His column “Road to Revival” runs every other Friday,