Darvin Ham Praises Russell Westbrook As Lakers Struggle To Find Trade Partner

Despite an uneven season with the Lakers, Russell Westbrook continues to garner praise from new coach Darvin Ham.

And while the Lakers continue to seek out Westbrook trades, per Hoops Wire sources, they are saying all the right things publicly. That’s especially true of Ham.

“I’m thrilled to coach Russ. They try to dump on Russ, I’m like that was one of the things that got me excited about this job,” Ham revealed in an interview with Showtime, via Anthony Gharib of Lakers Nation. “He and I have had a great great rapport since I’ve taken over the job man. Just text messages, phone calls, dinners. I locked in, I cornered his ass outside the elevator over at the Encore.

“He and I had a great conversation then. We all know what comes along with this business man. People throwing your name in trade rumors. I’ve been in the league since ’96 man. I don’t know anybody that’s been on any team that hasn’t had their name thrown in a trade rumor or been traded.

“As a coach, they’ll be saying they ready to fire me, the media be saying they ready to fire me in a year, year and a half. Well, you can’t help but hear the noise sometimes. You just got to stay solid, do what you do and you’ll win in the end every time. I witnessed it with him.”

Recent reports suggest the Lakers have been desperately trying to trade for Nets star Kyrie Irving, another indication that they want to move on from Westbrook. Along with that, Westbrook has been linked to the Spurs and Pacers, and even the Knicks.

For now, though, the idea of dealing Westbrook seems like a long shot. So it makes sense that Ham and others seemingly have his back.

As an aside, Westbrook recently part of a phone call that also consisted of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, in another sign that the three seem to have plans to run it back.