The Los Angeles Lakers announced that point guard Russell Westbrook has been ruled out of Friday night’s preseason finale against the Sacramento Kings in the second quarter with a left hamstring injury.
Westbrook injured the hamstring in the first quarter early into his shift after coming off the bench for the first time since 2008.
Lakers head coach Darvin Ham said he wanted to test out bringing Westbrook off the bench as a sixth man but unfortunately didn’t get much of a look at it before the injury.
Ham has gone with six different starting lineups in six preseason games, which hasn’t allowed the team to build the continuity they were hoping to build before the start of the regular season.
Injuries have played a big factor in that as in addition to Westbrook, Anthony Davis, Lonnie Walker IV, Troy Brown Jr. and Dennis Schroder all missed Friday night’s game due to injury.
Davis and Walker’s injuries aren’t serious and the expectation is they’ll be ready to go Tuesday night in the season opener against the Golden State Warriors.
Brown has already been ruled out with a back injury though and Schroder’s status is also in jeopardy after reportedly suffering a thumb injury in his preseason debut.
It remains to be seen how serious of an injury Westbrook is dealing with but with only four days until the opener, it’s fair to say his status is also in question.
If Westbrook is able to play, it will be interesting to see if Ham puts him in the starting lineup or continues to bring him off the bench since he didn’t get enough of a look at it on Friday night.
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