One of the stories to follow in the last part of the regular season that awaits us is definitely the induction of Russell Westbrook into the LA Clippers. After his tumultuous year and a half with the Los Angeles Lakers came to an end, Westbrook decided to proceed with the buyout with the Utah Jazz (to which the yellow-purples had sent him in a three-way trade that brought D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt to the court of LeBron James and Anthony Davis) and to join the other Los Angeles team, carrying out the first training session with his new teammates yesterday. Westbrook seemed particularly happy with his new adventure, showing off a wide smile in front of the media in the presentation press conference. “For me the most important thing is to be able to help others” he said. “It’s something I care a lot about and it’s what I intend to do: help my classmates by making their life easier, finding them in the right places, finding out what they like and what they don’t like. It will take some time, but I’m up for the challenge. The goal is to keep up the pace, using my speed and my ability to get into the box to find easy shots. For the rest, I will fit into what they were already doing without me. I will do whatever is asked of me to the best of my ability and I hope all goes well“. Westbrook said everything Clippers fans wanted to hear from him, but he didn’t miss the opportunity to throw a dig between the lines at the Lakers: “For me it is very important to feel appreciated. I’ve been in the NBA for a long time and to be in a place where I feel wanted and where people welcome me with open arms it means a lot to me, as I think it does to any other workplace in the world.”
Coach Lue: “He will have the ball in his hands to be the MVP and Hall of Famer he already is”
deepening
Westbrook subtracts Los Angeles: signs with Clippers
The Clippers have relatively new time to find the right chemistry since just 21 games left to close this regular season (together with Cleveland they are the team that has the least) and prepare for the post-season in the best possible way. And even if other rotation players such as Eric Gordon, Bones Hyland and Mason Plumlee have arrived from the market, it is inevitable that everyone’s attention will be focused on Westbrook. “If he’s doing too much or too little, I’ll let him knowsaid coach Tyronn Lue of his new point guard.But we want him to be the player he always was: the MVP, the Hall of Famer. We want it to be itself. We just have to make it within the confines of our team and what we’re trying to do as a group.” Luc has not revealed whether he intends to use him as a starter or as a reserve during the game, but it is clear that he counts on him and intends to give him great responsibilities. “You don’t get to travel to an average triple-double without the ball in your hands,” said Lue. “We know he can hit the right plays and we know he can get easy baskets for PG and Kawhi like John Wall did for us. But the most important thing is figuring out how to use it when it’s away from the ball, and that’s going to take time. When your career has taken you to MVP and Hall of Famer, it’s tough to change your game. And we don’t want to take away from him anything that Russell Westbrook made him. But we have to find ways for him to have an impact on the game and on the team even away from the ball: my job is to make sure that everything goes smoothly and I can’t wait to get started”. The work is only at the beginning, but the motivations in the Clippers house certainly aren’t lacking.