Why is Russell Westbrook coming off the bench? Lakers remove point guard from starting lineup for NBA Friday game vs. Timberwolves

In search of their first win of the 2022-23 NBA season, the Lakers are looking to shake things up.

News broke ahead of their matchup with the Timberwolves on Friday that the Lakers were planning to bring Russell Westbrook off the bench and feature him in a reserve role “for the foreseeable future.”

A nine-time All-Star and one-time MVP, Westbrook has started every game he’s appeared in since his rookie season. The Lakers brought him off the bench for one preseason game, but he started in their first three games of the regular season.

How could this move benefit both Westbrook and the Lakers?

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Lakers starting lineup vs. Timberwolves

The Lakers will start Patrick Beverley, Lonnie Walker IV, Troy Brown Jr., LeBron James and Damian Jones against the Timberwolves. Westbrook will come off the bench, and Anthony Davis is out with lower back tightness.

New starting five in Minneapolis#SuitingUpTogether | @ToyotaSoCal pic.twitter.com/2nlnQMNBhg

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 28, 2022

When Westbrook sat out their last game, they went with a lineup featuring Beverley, Austin Reaves, Walker, James and Davis.

That was the first lineup change of the season after they opened the season with Westbrook starting alongside Beverley, Walker, James and Davis.

Why would the Lakers bring Russell Westbrook off the bench?

Westbrook has gotten off to a slow start this season. In the three games he appeared in prior to missing LA’s loss to Denver with a hamstring injury, he averaged career lows of 10.3 points and 4.3 assists on 28.9 percent shooting from the field and 8.3 percent from 3-point range. His usage rate — an estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player when they’re on the court — also fell to the lowest mark of his career.

Westbrook started in each of those games, but Lakers head coach Darvin Ham experimented with bringing him off the bench in the team’s preseason finale. Wojnarowski reported before that game that the hope was moving Westbrook to the second unit would help him “play freer and faster” with the ball in his hands, and not worry as much about “fitting away” from the ball.

Westbrook played only four minutes before leaving with a hamstring injury. When asked about it after the game, he said changing his routine from starting to coming off the bench “absolutely” influenced his injury because he had “been doing the same thing for 14 years straight” and didn’t know what to do pregame.

“He’s been around a long time. He’s been a high-level player for a very long time. So, I know what that’s about and how that is,” Ham responded when asked about Westbrook’s comment. “But on the other hand, you have to be prepared to do whatever your team needs you to do. And that’s called being a professional.

“So, however we choose to use him, there has to be a willingness there to sacrifice for your teammates and overall good of the team if that course of action is going to lead to success.”

How many times has Russell Westbrook come off the bench in his career?

Westbrook came off the bench for 17 games in his rookie season. Friday’s matchup with the Timberwolves will mark the first time he hasn’t started in the 13 years since.

According to ESPN Stats and Information, the only active players who have started in more consecutive games than Westbrook (1,007) are Chris Paul and LeBron James.

Westbrook has also started in all 111 playoff games he’s appeared in.