Lakers

Lakers guard Russell Westbrook left Saturday's preseason finale against the Kings with a hamstring injury in the first quarter.

Los Angeles also was without [Anthony Davis](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/6583/anthony-davis), with the big man skipping the trip for precautionary reasons because of lower-back tightness. [LeBron James](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/1966/lebron-james) led the Lakers with 12 points, playing 20 minutes. [Lakers](https://www.espn.com/nba/team/_/name/lal/los-angeles-lakers) guard [Russell Westbrook](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/3468/russell-westbrook)will be reevaluated Saturday after exiting Los Angeles' 133-86 loss to the host [Sacramento Kings](https://www.espn.com/nba/team/_/name/sac/sacramento-kings) on Friday night with a left hamstring injury.

Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant were an unstoppable duo during the Lakers' three-peat.

In the regular season, Bryant led the team with 40.9 minutes per game and nearly beat out Shaq for the most points per game. He was involved in a three-way trade that involved Glen Rice going to New York and Patrick Ewing going to Seattle. In the NBA Finals, Fox scored 19 points in Game 1, but the 76ers took the win thanks to 48 points from Allen Iverson. In The playoffs, he appeared in all 16 games and averaged 18.1 minutes per game. His best game came in Game 4 of the NBA Finals when he scored eight points. For a mid-range member of the team in terms of salary, Foster was as lackluster as it could get. In the playoffs, he made appearances in seven games and averaged a dismal 3.9 minutes per game. Rider was acquired before the season began. After all, he played 56 games in the NBA and all of them came with the Lakers. The 2000-01 Lakers entered the season as the defending NBA champions. He was not added to the playoff roster but was given credit for winning a championship for making appearances during the regular season. 2000-01 Playoff Stats: 0.0 PPG, 0.0 RPG, 0.0 APG, 0.0 SPG, 0.0 BPG

A trail of bad news followed Los Angeles Lakers fans, after news broke that Russell Westbrook might be out with an injury.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Feel bad for Westbrook C'mon, Westbrook has never been hurt Nobody wants a hurt player. Earlier, supporters were dissatisfied and losing faith as the Lakers lost their fourth pre-season game. ADVERTISEMENT

Los Angeles point guard Russell Westbrook exited the Lakers' preseason finale against the host Sacramento Kings in the first quarter with a left hamstring ...

In 14 NBA seasons, Westbrook has averaged 22.8 points, 8.4 assists and 7.4 rebounds in just under 35 minutes per game. The Lakers closed out their preseason with a 133-86 loss to finish 1-5. He missed two 3-pointers and finished with two turnovers.

Russell Westbrook's fit with the LA Lakers was questioned once again after he refused to be a part of a team huddle during a preseason game.

Westbrook addressed the narrative of him refusing to be part of the team huddle. The Lakers made a mistake, Russ made a mistake in wanting to come to the Lakers. The Lakers are currently exploring if Russ coming off the bench can be a permanent solution. "As long as he's on the team, the Lakers are not going to win a championship or really compete for a championship. NBA analyst Shannon Sharpe feels Russ does not want to be a part of the team, and suggested that should part ways with the team. Russell Westbrook's fit with the LA Lakers was questioned once again after he refused to be a part of a team huddle during a preseason game.

A few hours before the Lakers game, Darvin Ham was in front of the media. A rather complicated exercise for the coach, who had to justify himself after the ...

It’s a small revolution in the City of Angels, but a fully assumed decision on the part of Darvin Ham, the coach of the roster. The former Bucks assistant lent himself to the exercise in front of the media. A rather complicated exercise for the coach, who had to justify himself after the decision to place Russell Westbrook on the bench. A great first since 2008 for the former Thunder player. The former Bucks had a hard time. A few hours before the Lakers game, Darvin Ham was in front of the media.

Russell Westbrook left the Los Angeles Lakers' preseason finale because of an injured left hamstring after five scoreless minutes off the bench Friday ...

LeBron James led the Lakers with 12 points, playing 20 minutes. He missed two 3-pointers and had two turnovers. [Russell Westbrook](/basketball/nba/players/russell-westbrook/329830) left the [Los Angeles Lakers](/basketball/nba/teams/los-angeles-lakers/)' preseason finale because of an injured left hamstring after five scoreless minutes off the bench Friday night.

The Lakers finally decided to pull the trigger on trying to see if Westbrook works better with them as their sixth man. Then he got hurt.

The basketball part was over — again. Their work as a team was officially over, and Westbrook — who playfully scanned the sparse crowd in attendance as if to ensure that no one was filming him for another social media moment — wanted to head for the hotel without any fears of blowing up the Internet again. [Kings](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/sac-kings/), [a hamstring injury](https://theathletic.com/3694693/2022/10/14/lakers-russell-westbrook-hamstring-injury/) left him hobbling through that very same hallway late in the first quarter.

NBA Trade Rumors: As a surprise to no one, the Los Angeles Lakers are expected to restart Russell Westbrook trade talks soon.

But that’s always been the case for the Lakers since Russ decided to opt into the final year of his contract. And according to a recent report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the expectation is that the Lakers will restart trade talks for Russ soon. Nevertheless, it appears that the Lakers will try to make things work with Russ.

Friday was a newsworthy day surrounding Russell Westbrook. He came off the bench rather than starting the Los Angeles Lakers' preseason loss to the ...

But it seems like the Lakers may want to deal him and go in a different direction with their lineup. It's hard to imagine that Westbrook will struggle as much as he did last season. It could also help if Westbrook comes off the bench, as that may be a better fit for him given the Lakers' current roster construction. When it was announced he wouldn't be in the starting lineup for Friday's exhibition contest, head coach Darvin Ham called it "not a demotion" but "a realignment," according to Because of that, it may be best for Los Angeles to just move fast if it's set on parting ways with Westbrook. He came off the bench rather than starting the Los Angeles Lakers' preseason loss to the Sacramento Kings.

Russell Westbrook came off the bench - and left with a hamstring injury before the first quarter was over. So the Lake Show is peaking just in time for the ...

That might sound familiar, because LeBron James also said [he wanted to run the offense through AD](https://nba.nbcsports.com/2019/09/27/lebron-james-says-lakers-offense-needs-to-run-through-anthony-davis/) in 2019. In 2014, after returning to Cleveland, [LeBron said “This is Kyrie’s show.”](https://nba.nbcsports.com/2014/09/28/lebron-james-on-running-the-cavaliers-offense-this-is-kyries-show/) It was not Kyrie’s show. But if you have to play a LeBron James team, catching them when half the rotation is hobbling is the ideal time. 1 offensive option](https://nba.nbcsports.com/2022/09/29/anthony-davis-excited-to-be-lakers-no-1-offensive-option-lebron-pushing-him-to-do-it/). [bag fumbler](https://nba.nbcsports.com/2021/03/30/report-dennis-schroder-rejected-four-year-84m-contract-extension-from-lakers/) Dennis Schroder for backcourt depth, but he’s out with a finger injury. The Lakers lost to the has missed the entire preseason with his own back injury, and won’t be back for the opener. Coach Ham wants a new commitment to defense, because that’s what every new coach wants, and the Lakers are essentially relying on Patrick Beverley for that defense. His backup is Thomas Bryant, who - can you believe this - is also recovering from a long-term injury. Westbrook entered the game with 7:30 left in the first quarter, and exactly five game minutes later, he was hobbling to the locker room with a hamstring injury. He may play Tuesday night, and he may be “realigned” to a bench role then as well. It’s the first time Westbrook came off the bench since his rookie year, but Ham insisted it wasn’t a punishment or demotion.

After your Los Angeles Lakers almost traded $47.1 million point guard Russell Westbrook for Indiana Pacers vets Myles Turner and Buddy Hield ahead of the ...

It's also quite possible that the draft equity asking amount could decline as teams get increasingly more desperate to worsen their own on-court output. Should that happen this season, Los Angeles may be able to make a splashier, more favorable trade than was possible prior to this Wembanyama development “The Lakers at some point here will start engaging teams again on possible Russell Westbrook trades.

The Los Angeles Lakers' latest decision with Russell Westbrook may make a trade to the Indiana Pacers more imminent than before.

This is where the Indiana Pacers come in, as they have been the only club so far to show a degree of tolerance to any Westbrook trade— Newly installed head coach Darvin Ham has shown an inclination to try and piece together an obviously ill-fitting LA Lakers squad, a stance shared by the team’s management in hopes of opening more finance and asset leeway for the long-term. Following a tedious and admittedly exhausting barrage of news on that front, both teams seemed content to at least begin the 2022-23 season with what they have on the table.

Will the swingman make the team's opening night roster? ... It looks like new Lakers small forward Matt Ryan will be a Los Angeles Laker a little while longer!

Ryan has some upside, and will get a longer look while on his current non-guaranteed deal with the team. Having gone the other direction entirely, the team is clearly looking to bolster its shooting with a pure long-range gunner. Through his five preseason contests with Los Angeles, Ryan is averaging 8.2 points and one rebound across 13.1 minutes a night.

The Los Angeles Lakers reportedly will not waive Matt Ryan so he makes the Opening Night roster as the 15th player.

is expected to [re-engage teams on trade talks](https://lakersnation.com/lakers-rumors-l-a-expected-to-again-engage-teams-on-russell-westbrook-trades-after-regular-season-starts/2022/10/14/) involving the former MVP once the season starts. The Lakers have 14 players on their roster but are allowed to go into the season with 15 players if they want. Understanding that, the Lakers brought in a sharpshooter in Matt Ryan on a non-guaranteed contract just before the start of training camp.