Hamm: The Lakers hollowed out the team to get Westbrook. For the sake of balance in the lineup, I put him on the reserve team.
6686 Sports November 7th Bucks assistant Hamm recently participated in the "Hoop Genius Podcast" program and talked about the experience of coaching Westbrook.
Ham first said: "Westbrook has always maintained a very high level in terms of physical competitiveness and competitive level. He continues to polish his skills. No matter which team he plays on, every teammate in the lounge is full of respect and love for him."
But then, Hamm said: "Westbrook did face a very difficult situation back then. In order to get a player like him, you almost had to empty the team lineup. This was basically the situation of the Lakers at the time. In order To get Westbrook, they had to send away players like Pope, Kuzma, and Caruso who could not keep them due to salary issues. The Lakers had three maximum-paid players in the lineup at the time, so they had to sign some players with lower salaries-they were capable, but they needed to be paid. To compete for the championship, you must have an elite lineup, and financial constraints often prevent this."
"In order to balance the team, I proposed that Westbrook play as a reserve player. Tony Davis needs the ball, and Westbrook is also a very strong ball-handling player. If the three of them start at the same time, the balance of the team will be affected. In the end, he started to play as a reserve player, and the team as a whole was balanced. At first, some fans did not understand, and even booed him and criticized him. But as his reserve players came on, the fans began to cheer for him, and the atmosphere of the whole game was lifted when he came on the bench many times. ”
"I have no animosity toward Westbrook, and I wish him all the best. I have communicated with him since I took office, and he also attended my press conference. I love him and his family very much, and I hope one day we can sit down and have a good chat. He is now In Sacramento, my son is also there, and Westbrook respects my son very much. Westbrook is one of the most graceful players in the league, a Hall of Fame player, and what he has done in the NBA may be difficult to copy for a long time."
