When the Los Angeles Lakers acquired veteran guard Patrick Beverley via trade last month, the first thing many folks thought of was Beverley’s relationship with Russell Westbrook.
Of course, the two players have a ton of history, and they’ve made plenty of headlines over the years due to their complicated beef.
At first, the Lakers’ deal for Beverley caused some fans to believe that Westbrook was virtually guaranteed to be traded away before the start of the 2022-23 regular season to avoid any potential drama between the two players.
Other fans entertained the idea of what a Beverley-Westbrook duo would look like — both on the court and in the locker room — and most folks concluded that it would be a mess.
But with roughly two weeks in the books since the Beverley trade, both players are still on L.A.’s roster.
And perhaps even more notably, both Beverley and Westbrook have done everything right so far to accept each other as teammates.
Starting Off On The Right Foot
After being traded to the Lakers, Beverley expressed excitement about getting to play alongside Westbrook.
When Lakers superstar LeBron James said that he “can’t wait” for Westbrook to “go off” this season, Beverley echoed the sentiment.
Same it’s on🦍 https://t.co/jR5ZFaMYMV
— Patrick Beverley (@patbev21) August 25, 2022
A few days after that, NBA insider Marc Stein reported that Beverley and Westbrook had been in contact with each other since the trade, which was another good sign.
However, arguably the most notable developments so far took place on Tuesday, when Beverley was officially introduced as a Laker.
Not only was Westbrook in attendance, but he was also the lone Lakers player in the room aside from Beverley.
On top of that, Westbrook and Beverley were seemingly on fantastic terms throughout the day.
Russell Westbrook didn’t just watch Patrick Beverley’s press conference from the side. He made sure Pat Bev looked good, tossing him a towel to wipe his sweat from working out.
Pat Bev: “First dime of the year.”
Russ laughed. The Lakers point guards on the same page so far. pic.twitter.com/ruQHJlaFkU
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) September 6, 2022
Pat Beverley and Russell Westbrook greeting each other after Pat’s press conference pic.twitter.com/p02AC9O1kh
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) September 6, 2022
If there’s any lingering bad blood between the two players, they’re doing a great job of pushing it aside.
Right now, it seems like Westbrook and Beverley are ready to roll as teammates this season.
Will It Work?
It’s a great sign that Beverley and Westbrook are seemingly on the same page right now.
If their relationship remains steady, that’s one less thing the Lakers have to worry about this season.
On the court, however, there are question marks about how the two players will fit together.
Lakers head coach Darvin Ham reportedly has lineups in mind to play Beverley and Westbrook side-by-side, which is going to be an interesting experiment to keep an eye on.
Spacing comes to mind as one concern.
Ham doesn’t seem worried at all about potential fit issues with the two guards, however.
He thinks they’re going to work together “fabulously” and feels that they complement each other well.
Darvin Ham says Russell Westbrook and Patrick Beverley will work together “fabulously.” He thinks they complement each other well and wouldn’t want to be an opposing backcourt facing them.
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) September 6, 2022
Many Lakers fans are likely hesitant to agree with Ham on this one, but the first-year head coach deserves a shot to put his vision into action.
The Lakers are set to open their 2022-23 regular season on Oct. 18 against the Golden State Warriors, and if Beverley and Westbrook are still teammates by then, fans will learn a lot in that game about whether the two players are indeed a good backcourt fit.
