Westbrook eager to help in Lakers homecoming

LOS ANGELES (AP):

Russell Westbrook was a Lakers fan from childhood and he skipped school to attend their championship parades. After he became close friends with Kobe Bryant, they spoke about the responsibility and honour of playing for this decorated franchise.

Yet even after Westbrook became a National Basketball Association (NBA) superstar with the autonomy now available to basketball’s best players, he figured the timing would never be right to suit up for his beloved home town team – let alone alongside two fellow superstars with a real chance to win his first championship.

“Some of these dreams don’t come true for people like myself,” Westbrook said.

After spending the last half-decade racking up spectacular numbers for teams with little chance of major success, Westbrook is joining the Lakers for his 14th NBA season. Los AngelesGeneral Manager Rob Pelinka pulled off a spectacular trade to team Westbrook with LeBron James and Anthony Davis on a reconfigured Lakers roster designed to win rings now.

When it came together over the past week, the 32-year-old Westbrook said he repeatedly found himself at a loss for words.

His broad smile said plenty when he held up his gold No. 0 jersey on Tuesday alongside his parents and brother.

“Being from LA, you always wish that you could play for your home team,” Westbrook said. “That’s definitely something that always circled around in my mind. Maybe one day? But I always would come back and be like, ‘Ah, that probably won’t happen.’ I just had to wait and see. But now that we’re here, I’m going to take full advantage of it.”

The Lakers believe they can take full advantage of both James and Westbrook, a pairing that seems potentially difficult. Westbrook famously is among the most ball-dominant players of his generation, while James has become an exceptional offensive initiator and point guard alongside his innumerable other skills.

Westbrook, who has several eponymous auto dealerships in the Los Angeles area, is ready to play a complementary role to keep the Lakers on the road to a title.

“LeBron is one of the best players to play this game, and his ability to do everything on the floor allows me to just figure it out,” Westbrook said. “I’m coming to a championship-calibre team and my job is to make his game easy for him and I’ll find ways to do that. As it pertains to ball-handling, it really doesn’t matter. There’s many different ways you can impact the game without having the ball in your hands. I’ve been able to do that for a number of years and we’ll figure it out.”