Westbrook: 'I'm OK with adversity' amid Lakers' slow start
Russell Westbrook's first couple of games in purple and gold haven't gone as well as he'd hoped, but the new Los Angeles Lakers guard isn't losing sleep over the rough start.
"I'm OK with adversity, honestly," Westbrook told ESPN's Dave McMenamin Saturday. "I never panic throughout the course of a season. Especially at the start of the season. There's really no need to. The season is too long and nobody is winning nothing right now.
"Yes, it's good to get off to a good start and feel good about yourself, but especially me personally, I like to make sure that I'm, as the season goes on, I'm constantly just getting better and better and better as the season prolongs. And making sure that my team and my teammates are getting better as well as we all get comfortable with each other."
Westbrook, 32, struggled to find his rhythm in the Lakers' season opener, putting up just eight points on 30.8% shooting from the floor along with five rebounds and four assists in a loss to the Golden State Warriors. Following the game, he received some positive reinforcement from teammates LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
He fared better Friday against the Phoenix Suns, falling just one assist short of a 15-point triple-double, but Los Angeles still lost by 10 in a game they once trailed by 32.
His combined 23 points are his second-lowest total through the first two games of a season behind only his rookie year with the Oklahoma City Thunder, when he managed just 19, courtesy of Stathead.
The nine-time All-Star and former MVP says he and the rest of his teammates only need to become accustomed to each other's playing styles.
"Guys are figuring out how to run with me, and play a little faster. I'm figuring out how to do other things and moving off the ball," Westbrook told McMenamin. "I'm OK with the struggle of figuring it out and making sure we are putting ourselves in the position to do the right things so that ultimately at the end of the year we can be playing our best basketball."