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Evidence exists that this works, as evidenced by the fact that the Los Angeles Lakers were motivated to make a roster change by the fact that the two superstars were on the same team.
After Kent Bazemore grabbed a defensive rebound and threw a go-ahead pass to James, he was streaking up the middle of the court.
The 17-time All-Star caught the ball, advanced near half court with one attack dribble and then passed to the other side for an outlet pass to the other side for James, who was anticipating his dart near the 3-point line. The nine-time All-Star took one dribble to get into the lane, James kept sprinting and the ball found an airborne James for an alley-oops layup.
James headed up the floor a couple of strides behind him after a long defensive rebound by the other. James made the free throw after drawing the attention of the two Cleveland defenders. James received a shovel pass from Westbrook and barged through the open space to score a one-handed hammer dunk to tie the game at halftime.
It's all about progressing and understanding the person you're playing with. James said that he understood his court vision. Just running a lane with Russ. He's usually out in front of the pack because of his pace, but when you run with him, you get rewarded.
The question is, are the Lakers built with enough defensive strength to stop James and Westbrook? Their highlights against the Cavs are rare. How well the Lakers maximize their union will determine how far this team can go.
" Their open-court chemistry has been there since Day 1," said Vogel when asked about the sequence. When I was talking to you guys, I was seeing how good they looked in practice. Those open-court situations have been fun to be a part of.
The two superstars began working out together in August.
The Lakers assistant coach was in Los Angeles for the first day of workouts for James and Westbrook, and he was there for the entire time.
Just great. Excellent energy. "They really fed off each other that first workout." Two guys are in the gym trying to figure out how to build their relationship and support each other. It was great.
The shared experience has been scarce as footloose and fancy-free as those fast breaks have felt.
In the 13 games they've played together so far this season, James has gotten 19 assists from his teammate, including two dimes from Westbrook. James missed 12 games this season because of various injuries, a suspension and a false-positive COVID-19 test, so he has only assisted Westbrook nine times this season.
Part of the totals is because each player knows he can get his own shot, so they focus their distribution efforts elsewhere. If James reached the minimum games requirement, he would be 14th in the league with a 6.6 average.
The Lakers' defense isn't where it needs to be to get those two going, and the meager amount shows that. The Lakers were the first team in the league to win a title in the first year of a new coach, and they are now 15th in the defensive rating.
They've wasted too many possessions when they've stopped. In the league, the Lakers are 28th in turnovers per game, with James and Westbrook both second and ninth.
The lackluster start to the Lakers' grand plan is largely due to the defensive breakdowns and turnover binges.
There has been some improvement in that area. After coughing up six turnovers in a loss to the New York Knicks, the Lakers' point guard has averaged 3.3 turnovers over the past six games.
"We want to create more opportunities for shots at the rim, give ourselves an opportunity to score more points, but also when it comes to that, we have to be able to take care of the ball," James said this week.
L.A. would push the pace with the goal of maximizing two great open-court players and keeping the teammates happy who signed up to surround them.
"What it takes care of is shot attempts for everyone," said David Fizdale, who was on the Miami Heat's staff a decade ago when James and D- Wade attempted their own two-man tango. "You don't have a guy who says, 'I never touched the ball.' We got 125 possessions in the game. You should have.
The strategy is meant to organize and let everybody eat. This keeps things simple when you're talking about a team with a lot of new faces. Russ has to fly when the ball is in the air. When the ball is in Russ's hand, he is going to fly. That's the best way to complement those guys.
Fizdale remembers how James felt when he first started playing with Wade.
Fizdale said that the two were trying to get out of each other's way. They were like, "OK, are you going to do this?" Should I do it?
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James has a reported net worth of $1 billion and has won four titles. The NBA's highest-paid player is back in L.A. and in search of a ring, as he has earned more than $250 million in NBA salary alone.
Fizdale thinks that Russ is in a good place in his career because he is very open to doing what is necessary to win a title. I think he's there.
Not everyone sees that way.
One Eastern Conference executive said that Russ reminded him of Allen Iverson, wanting to win but wanting to win on his terms. If he can win in L.A., it will show that he's done his job in the league.
When he was told of the parallel, he pushed back.
"I disagree for a number of reasons," he said. I think I'm a one-of-a-kind player, but I'm not like Allen Iverson. I think I've been trying to fit in to do the best for the team. I've always done that in my career, and I'll continue to do that. Cool if we win a championship. I'm okay with that if we don't.
There is no denying the title pressure that is the backdrop for this Lakers season. Losing streaks feel longer. Body language is scrutinized. Every news conference has a sound bite cataloged.
The Lakers' poor start to the season has caused some to question the job of Vogel. They've had 12 different starting lineups in 25 games, the second most in the league. The injuries and inconsistency have led the coaching staff to put everything on the table and ponder whether they have to change their high-paced plan on the fly.
The stakes are high.
The two superstars have only shared the court in 13 games.
When James first joined the Heat, there was a similar dynamic. It might not be as obvious in L.A., since Wade told James that the team would only get as far as he could.
Fizdale was in Miami when he saw the same team. This is different than D Wade was a 2-guard, Russ was a point guard and he only knew the ball. It's getting Russ to have that give and take with the guy, and that's a big difference, where DWYane had done both, so it allowed him to handle it a lot more. It's a completely new experience.
It was clear that the Lakers were welcoming the full experience of Russell Westbrook after he had one of his best games of the season in a win over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday.
Anthony Davis said that Russ was a little bit passive at the beginning of the year. We were trying to tell him to be himself. Don't try to be anyone else. The more aggressive you are, the more open you are to everyone else.
It's difficult to compare James' partnership with the two guys and his game with another ball-dominant player in Irving when he came back to Cleveland.
James' usage rate of 29.3% is lower than his first season with Wade (31.5%) and his first with Irving (32.3%), suggesting he might be more apt to defer to the other team's point guard.
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A friend of James once likened the four-time NBA Most Valuable Player's outlook to a man with a fridge strapped to his back at the base of a mountain.
James will be happy to share the load with Westbrook.
"Just someone that he trusts and relies on," he said. "You have another point guard that's been a point guard for a long time, and that allows him to have his usage rate to where it's not so high and doesn't wear him down throughout the season."
There is a quality to the game of Westbrook. He leads the league in clutch-time turnovers with 12 and is also tops in clutch-time assists with 15.
The Lakers developed a bad habit of coming out flat after halftime and letting opponents take control of the third quarter because of the inconsistent play of Russell. He single-handedly helped L.A. overcome that weakness by scoring 10 points in the third in the past seven games. L.A. won six of the seven third quarters.
In early November, after a four-game stretch in which he averaged 23.3 points, 6.5 assists and 3.3 turnovers, he followed that up with a putrid night in Portland, leading to a 3-1 record for L.A. With James and Davis out with the stomach flu, and with Westbrook shooting 1-for-13 with six assists and six turnovers, he scored just eight points. The core of the team's approach was criticized after the Lakers were blown out, trailing by as many as 34 points in the third quarter.
The Lakers focus too much on the names and not enough on the games, according to one prominent agent.
The Lakers are trying to build a winner.
The context of the comment is that the all-time triple-doubles leader, Russell Westbrook, has all the clout imaginable. If the Lakers don't improve, the trade L.A. stopped pursuing for the less famous, sharp-shooting Buddy Hield of the Sacramento Kings will remain a major thing.
While Hield is having a strong season for Sacramento, his 3.6 made 3-pointers per game ranks second in the league, behind only Stephen Curry, and no one would argue that Westbrook can't do more to help a team win than Hield can. A team can lose too.
After the debacle in Portland, he was confident.
He said that he needs to play that way every single night because he is very elite at what he does. Simple as that.
That iron will has made him a Hall of Famer.
The Lakers' 2021-22 season will be a battle between greatness and disaster until James and Westbrook can prove they can build a winner together.
Jeff Green, one of only three players to have ever been teammates with both James and Westbrook before they joined up on the Lakers, is certain that it will work.
"Of course they'll figure it out, I played with both of them in Oklahoma City and Houston," Green said. Both of them understand what it takes to win. They are going to do what it takes for their team to win. That's what I like about them. Both of them are about team.
The Lakers and James are in the middle of it. For better or worse.
"People have never seen a player like me before," he said. When people do things that have never been done before, the first thing they do is point out the negatives. That's reality. We live in that world. I can live with that because I'm comfortable doing the things I'm doing for the game and trying to win.
