Back in 2023, the Lakers pulled off a three-team trade, sending Russell Westbrook to Minnesota and Utah. The headlines weren’t just about the trade, it was ESPN’s Dave McMenamin’s dramatic metaphor that caught attention: “removing a vampire from the locker room.” The phrase stuck, casting Westbrook as a shadow quietly sapping energy from a star-studded roster. Friends and family pushed back hard, and ESPN eventually deleted the post. Recently, another supporter stepped forward to challenge the narrative, putting the rumors ESPN sparked under the microscope.

Speaking on The Hoop Genius Podcast, former Lakers head coach Darvin Ham addressed the chatter from Russell Westbrook’s time in Los Angeles. He framed the comments as just another ripple in the sea of social media negativity, where quick, spicy updates often overshadow context. Ham wanted to set the record straight and send a personal message to Westbrook: “I love him, what he stands for. Great family. Uh, and hopefully one day we’ll be able to sit down again and just really chop it up man to man.”

Ham is definitely one of the best voices to explain the Lakers’ locker room dynamics when Russell Westbrook was on the team. He explained that he made the call for Russell Westbrook to come off the bench to bring balance to the team.

With LeBron and Anthony Davis needing the ball and Westbrook also being a dominant on-ball player, Ham knew the team required an adjusted approach for success. “I knew in order for our team to have any type of balance, to have any type of success, we were going to have to balance out our approach. And so him coming off the bench, and you know, for us, it worked out.”

It wasn’t a huge shock when Westbrook was slated to come off the bench in L.A.’s preseason finale. He’d struggled in the early games, posting just five points, three rebounds, and four assists in 25 minutes against the Timberwolves.

For a player used to starting nearly every game, only 17 of his rookie season exceptions, this was a big adjustment. But considering the struggles of his 2021-22 season, it made sense. Averaging 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 7.1 assists while shooting 44.4 percent from the field and only 29.8 percent from deep, the move was a justified shakeup. 

The shift in Westbrook’s role sparked whispers about his fit in the locker room. Ham had even clarified it back then, “It’s not demotion, it’s realignment.” He added, “[Westbrook] totally understood… Looked me in my eye and said, ‘Yeah coach, whatever you need me to do.’” This clearly doesn’t paint him as a vampire lurking in the shadows of the locker room rather, it shows him working with the team in the bright light of day.

With Westbrook’s struggles mounting, trade rumors inevitably began to swirl.

Russell Westbrook in L.A.: Not a locker room crisis

Looking back at bringing Russell Westbrook to Los Angeles, Darvin Ham dismissed all the “inside sources say…” chatter floating online. He made it clear: this wasn’t a locker room issue. “But in terms of Russ, man, you know, it was a difficult situation. To get a player like that, you pretty much have to gut your team. And that’s essentially what happened.”

Ham explained that bringing Westbrook to Los Angeles came at a steep cost. “To get Russ on the Lakers, they had to part ways with Alex Caruso. They had to part ways with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma, a lot of other players they weren’t able to get because the money wasn’t there,” he said.

With three supermax-level players on the roster, Ham explained, the Lakers had to fill out the rest of the team with lower-tier players. While talented, they weren’t enough to form an elite supporting cast needed to truly compete for a championship.

The plan simply didn’t translate to success on the court. Westbrook averaged 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 7.1 assists in his first season, but the Lakers were worse with him on the floor. The team finished 33-49, missing the playoffs, and coach Frank Vogel was fired. Ham insisted the mismatch wasn’t personal: the roster and finances limited the team’s ability to build a true championship core.

When the time came to move Westbrook, Lakers GM Rob Pelinka echoed the same sentiment. “I think when we made the Russell Westbrook trade, we did it with the hope of bringing a championship, having a big 3. And clearly, we fell short of that. But when something’s not working as a general manager, it’s your job to fix it.” In other words, it was about strategy and resources, not a locker room feud.