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Russell Westbrook said LeBron James knows what it takes to win in the NBA as the Los Angeles Lakers recruit attempts to claim his first championship.
Westbrook and James will team up in Los Angeles after the former joined his hometown team following a trade from the Washington Wizards.
A nine-time All-Star and former MVP, Westbrook has a long list of honours in the NBA but the 32-year-old is still searching for his maiden ring.
Westbrook, though, is excited to join forces with four-time champion James at Staples Center, having tasted defeat in the 2012 NBA Finals when the Oklahoma City Thunder lost to the latter’s Miami Heat.
“LeBron out of anybody else, he knows what it takes to win a championship,” Westbrook told ESPN.
“My understanding of the commitment, understanding the sacrifices that we are both going to have to make, including myself and [Anthony Davis] as well for the betterment on the team, and finding ways to be able to win a championship.
“And that’s the ultimate goal. So anything along the way we, we cannot get distracted, cannot get the deterred from our ultimate goal.”
Westbrook averaged 22.2 points, 11.7 assists and 11.5 rebounds with the Wizards last season.
On playing alongside James in LA, Westbrook – a dominant ballhandler – added: “It was going to work.”
“When you get a chance to play against one of the greatest players of all time and consistently, it helps my game,” Westbrook said.
“It helps my preparation, makes me focus more on the things I need to focus on to get to a point where I can sit down and say, ‘I’ve accomplished everything I can accomplish in this league and now I’m lucky enough to be able to play alongside him.’ So I’m looking forward to that, looking forward to the things we can accomplish here together this season.”
