Darvin Ham insisted Russell Westbrook is one of the best players the NBA has ever seen upon his announcement as Los Angeles Lakers head coach on Monday.
The nine-time All-Star and former MVP had a patchy first season in the purple and gold despite averages of 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists.
The 33-year-old was widely regarded as the cause behind the Lakers finishing with a 33-49 record which saw them finish 11th in the Western Conference, even missing the Play-In Tournament.
Asked about fitting Westbrook with LeBron James and Anthony Davis during his introduction as the Lakers coach, Ham took the opportunity to defend the embattled point guard.
"Don't get it messed up," he said. "Russ is one of the best players our league has ever seen, and there's still a ton left in that tank. I don't know why people tend to try to write him off.
"I'm going to approach him like I do every player I've ever encountered. We're going to talk about our running habits, with the ball, without the ball. And again, the team, the rhythm of the team and trying to establish a rhythm with LeBron, Russ, AD.
"And again, share the load defensively and offensively. Defensively is where you're going to see us make our biggest leaps and bounds. We have to commit to the defensive side of the ball or we don't have a chance to do anything. Our offence won't even matter if we don't get stops."
After an eight-year playing career in the NBA, Ham got his first coaching job in the league working as an assistant at the Lakers, as a part of Mike Brown's staff in 2012-13.
After that season, the 48-year-old spent the following years on Mike Budenholzer's staff with the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks, winning the NBA title in 2021.
"The fact that I got my start as a coach here, this place will always be special for me," Ham said. "It's like a homecoming for me, in all seriousness."
"As sad as it is for me to be leaving coach Bud, sometimes you got to walk that walk on your own. We went from colleagues, to friends, to brothers while all the while making history."
Gobert voted Defensive Player of the Year for 4th time
Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert was voted as the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year for the fourth time in his career, beating out rookie sensation and fellow Frenchman Victor Wembanyama.
Gobert – who previously won the award as a member of the Utah Jazz in 2018, 2019 and 2021 – joins Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace as the only players to be named the league’s top defender four times.
Gobert received 72 of a possible 99 first-place votes after anchoring the Wolves’ top-ranked defence all year. Wembanyama received 19 first-place votes to finish second. Bam Adebayo narrowly edged Anthony Davis for third, while Herbert Jones rounded out the top five.
The Timberwolves allowed an NBA-low 106.5 points per game this season, almost two points ahead of the second-place New York Knicks (108.2). Gobert played 76 games while averaging 12.9 rebounds (second in the NBA) and 2.13 blocks (sixth).
Many of Gobert’s teammates in Minnesota have said that Gobert helped cultivate a culture that values defence, which has been on display throughout the Timberwolves’ 6-0 start to the playoffs.
“This year, training camp, we came Day 1 and said we wanted to be a top defence in this league,” Gobert said on TNT while accepting his award. “Every guy has bought in. Everyone has put in the work every single day, and now we’re here with one goal in mind, to try to get this championship.”
Many fans and analysts criticised the trade that brought Gobert to Minnesota as too expensive for a limited offensive player.
Tim Connelly, the Wolves’ president of basketball operations, has seen his vision manifested beautifully, as Minnesota leads the defending champion Denver Nuggets 2-0 in their Western Conference semifinals series that continues Friday.
The future of this award seems to be firmly in the giant palms of Wembanyama, who led the NBA with 3.58 blocked shots per game.
Joakim Noah became the first French player to be voted Defensive Player of the Year in 2014, and Gobert has built on that with his impressive run.
It would not be shocking if Wembanyama, 20, had a similar run of dominance in the near future.
'Whatever we need, he'll provide' – Brunson continues stunning playoff run for Knicks
New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau hailed Jalen Brunson after he became just the fourth player to score 40 points in four straight playoff games, saying: "Whatever it is we need, he'll provide."
Brunson continued his incredible postseason form with 43 points in the Knicks' 121-117 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of the teams' Eastern Conference semifinal series on Monday.
He is just the fourth player to achieve that feat in NBA history and the first since Hall of Famer Michael Jordan in 1993. Jerry West and Bernard King are the other players to do so.
Brunson also added six rebounds and six assists, while Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart supported him with 25 and 24 points respectively.
Speaking after the game, Thibodeau credited Brunson for his single-minded approach as he said: "You could go on and on every night, and the thing I love about him is he's all about the team.
"All he cares about is winning, and he cares about his team-mates, and he's like, in the end, what do we need? Do we need a big bucket? Whatever it is we need, he'll provide."
Brunson has averaged 12.4 fourth-quarter points in his last five games, and he came up clutch again on Monday by making six of 10 shots and all eight of his free throws in the final period.
The All-Star guard, however, chose to give credit to his team-mates, saying: "The little things can go a long way. The 40 points are cool and all, but it's the little things that help us win games like that.
"So I'm just happy I have the group of guys that I do. I just know that we're going to fight every single day. That's all I'm thinking about."
There was a hint of controversy about the Knicks' win as Indiana center Myles Turner was called for a moving screen on DiVincenzo with just 12.7 seconds left.
The Pacers challenged the call but failed to overturn it, having earlier seen Aaron Nesmith contentiously pulled up for a kicked ball – a decision the referees admitted to getting wrong after the game.
Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said: "We're not expecting to get calls in here. It would have been nice if they laid off that one, but they didn't. So that's just the way it goes."
Towns pledges Timberwolves will not waste Nuggets chance at 2-0 up
Karl-Anthony Towns has pledged the Minnesota Timberwolves will not waste a golden opportunity in their Western Conference semifinal series against the Denver Nuggets, having seized a 2-0 lead.
Towns joined Anthony Edwards in putting up 27 points as the third-seeded Timberwolves claimed a comfortable 106-80 win on Monday, two days on from a 106-99 Game 1 victory.
Nikola Jokic was held to just 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting as Minnesota produced another outstanding defensive performance, while Jamal Murray only managed eight points in 36 minutes.
Minnesota return home for the first of back-to-back games at Target Center on Friday, knowing they have the chance to finish the series off on their own turf.
It is not an opportunity Towns intends to see pass them by.
"We're extremely honoured and blessed that we have this opportunity to go home up 2-0," Towns said.
"But we're humble in this approach. We understand that we've put ourselves in a great position, but as great as the position we are in is, it could be very bad if we don't win our homestand.
"So, we've just got to go out there, take care of business, do what we do, play defense at a high level, and execute even at a higher level because the defending champions, you can't give them a minute of slippage at all in the game."
Minnesota should be further boosted by Friday with Rudy Gobert set to return after missing Monday's game to attend the birth of his first child.
Given the Timberwolves were without the Defensive Player of the Year favourite, coach Chris Finch believes shutting down the reigning NBA champions ranked among their best defensive efforts this season.
"We've had some really, really good defensive efforts this year but that has to be right up there with the best of them," Finch said.
"On the ball, off the ball, the physicality, the execution of the gameplan… we just really locked in on defense."
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