Russell Westbrook Sacrifices His Position To Aid James Harden and the Clippers

Amidst the six-game losing streak and lack of coordination among the players comes a selfless decision from the vocal leader of the Los Angeles Clippers. Russell Westbrook takes one for the team. This time in the form of a lineup change as he volunteers for a demotion.

According to sources, the star player of the Clippers, Russell Westbrook has suggested to the coaching staff for a lineup change in order to help his team with the recent losses.

Russell Westbrook is here for his team

According to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, the Clippers’ point guard has requested to come off the bench in order to help his team get some continuity in the game. The 9× NBA All-Star will come off the bench in the game against the  Houston Rockets on Friday night.

Westbrook has been in the first unit in all the games he has played for the Clippers till now. The last time the player came off the bench was when he played for the Los Angeles Lakers back in February. Westbrook hasn’t missed a game with the Clippers yet by averaging 14.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 5.7 assists. With the speculations about the team benching him, the player has made a move for the betterment of the team that the coach, Lue, has been trying to make for some time now.

While Westbrook will have more freedom with the ball in the second unit, the star will be replaced by Terance Mann, who will start in his place in the first unit.

Will this decision help the Clippers for the better?

Mann will be joining James Harden, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, and Ivica Zubac. This comes after the team has been on a losing streak of six games, going down to 12th place in the Western Conference and 3-7 in the standings. The first unit which included Westbrook has been a disaster with a -14.1 net rating. There seem to be issues with the team functioning together and a clear absence of role players.

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The team has been dealing with chemistry and role distribution issues for some time now. This was more of an issue in the first unit as all five of the players were ball-dominant after the James Harden acquisition from Philadelphia. However, this selfless move by Westbrook can help the team find a balance in the first unit. Mann’s adaptive capabilities may allow him to do better in the starting lineup, especially alongside Harden. We may now see the players actually playing together and figure it all out.

With this new lineup, it’ll be interesting to see if this decision will take the team in the right direction.

What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments below.

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