Russell Westbrook found himself in the Los Angeles Lakers‘ starting lineup on Tuesday night during the team’s season opener against the Golden State Warriors. This came on the heels of Westbrook coming off the bench in the team’s preseason finale, an option that has been mentioned as a possibility throughout the offseason.
The preseason experiment didn’t go great, as Westbrook came off the bench and played five minutes before tweaking his hamstring and leaving the game. Following the regular season opener, Westbrook got asked what happened with his hamstring and made clear that he thought his injury was related to not being among the team’s starters.
Asked by @DanWoikeSports whether he thinks that coming off the bench and breaking from his normal routine could have influenced his hamstring injury in Sacramento, Russell Westbrook said “absolutely,” and said he wasn’t sure how to stay warm once the game started: pic.twitter.com/L4oYmp8D73
— Kyle Goon (@kylegoon) October 19, 2022
“Absolutely,” Westbrook said when asked if the change in routine contributed to his injury. “I’ve been doing the same thing for 14 years straight. Honestly, I didn’t even know what to do pregame — being honest, I was trying to figure out [how] to stay warm and loose. Obviously, the way I play the game, fast-paced, quick, stop and go, and when I subbed in, I felt something that was, you know, didn’t know what it was but I wasn’t gonna risk it in a preseason game.”
This is not the first time that Westbrook has said a change in his routine has led to him suffering an injury. Last season, Westbrook’s back tightened up, which he thought was related to sitting for long stretches.