The Los Angeles Lakers have so far been unsuccessful in trading Russell Westbrook and are prepared to enter the season with him on the roster. The Lakers further complicated the situation by trading for Patrick Beverley, who has been a nemesis of Westbrook over the past decade.

Jeanie Buss believes Westbrook and Beverley can co-exist.

"Yeah, I remember all the video that circulated when the Lakers brought in Matt Barnes, (with) his relationship with Kobe over the years (and) being one of the best defenders on Kobe," said Buss in an interview with Sam Amick of The Athletic. "And now he becomes teammates with Kobe. We’ve seen these storylines before. Pat Beverley was brought here to play defense, to be that guy that knows how to push his teammates, (who) sets an example with how he approaches his job. The day of the trade, he was already here after work hours working out. I got a chance to say hello to him as I was leaving for the day. He just brings that work ethic that we value, that coach Ham values and is going to be a leader in the locker room. So it has nothing to do with Russ. And like I said, I think that people, they love to pull up storylines and create something and that just isn’t the case.

"All I can say is that, from my point of view, (Westbrook) was our best player last year. He played pretty much every single game, showed up, worked hard. You know, I would have loved to have seen what this team would have looked like if they stayed healthy. It’s really tough to win when Anthony Davis isn’t on the court. LeBron was hurt a lot of the season. But Russ showed up every game and played hard every night. And, you know, I just really appreciate him for who he is and what he brings to the team."

Amick gave Buss an opportunity to clarify her remark on Westbrook via a follow-up text.

“The word I should have used was ‘consistent,’” Buss wrote via text message. “He played 78 games last season.”