Russell Westbrook Is Looking Like His Vintage Self

The Los Angeles Lakers made a big gamble when they traded for Russell Westbrook.

They already had a championship-winning core that had developed strong chemistry, and Westbrook’s fit around LeBron James and Anthony Davis was questionable, to say the least.

The early returns of the experiment were far from encouraging.

Westbrook was a turnover machine since preseason and could never turn things around under Frank Vogel, eventually being benched late in games and becoming the team’s scapegoat.

So, he became a likely trade candidate as he entered the final year of his contract.

However, his poor play and massive salary made it tough for the Lakers to find any suitors, especially given their reluctance to give any of their first-round picks away.

First-year coach Darvin Ham was quite vocal in his support for Westbrook since day one, stating that he had a plan to bring the best out of him again.

And, truth be told, it’s most definitely worked.