Westbrook staying on: Reports

LOS ANGELES • Russell Westbrook's debut season with the Los Angeles Lakers was nothing short of a disaster.

The nine-time All-Star, 2017 Most Valuable Player and two-time National Basketball Association scoring champion arrived last summer amid a flurry of hype.

He was expected to form a "Big Three", alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and all the pre-season predictions had Los Angeles as among the championship favourites.

By early April, the star-studded Lakers were eliminated from qualification for the play-offs and while the team had a litany of problems, including multiple injuries to key personnel, many supporters made Westbrook the scapegoat for their failures.

The guard was forced to go on a social media hiatus after being bombarded by insults, was captured engaging in rows with disgruntled fans and was widely mocked with the moniker "Westbrick".

But despite the fractured relationship Westbrook has with the Lakers nation - the team's fan base - the 33-year-old has decided to exercise his US$47.1 million (S$65.4 million) option to return to the franchise for the next season, according to multiple reports on Tuesday.

He will enter the final campaign of a five-year deal worth US$207 million and according to The Athletic, the Lakers are willing to give him one more shot, even as trade rumours persist over a potential move for Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving, James' former teammate at the Cleveland Cavaliers, or Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards.

New head coach Darvin Ham, who has replaced the sacked Frank Vogel, said: "Russell, don't get it messed up. Russ is one of the best players our league has ever seen and there's still a ton left in that tank. I don't know why people tend to try to write him off.

"I'm gonna approach him like I do every player I've ever encountered. We're gonna talk about our running habits, with the ball, without the ball, and again the team, the rhythm of the team and trying to establish a rhythm with LeBron, Russ, AD. And again share the load, defensively and offensively.

"Everything has to be a team effort again, competitive, together and accountable. If there's mistakes made... if I can't point that out to one of our 'Big Three', then the last man or someone in the rotation, they're not gonna take what we're doing seriously. So it has to be consistent across the board."

On Westbrook returning, Lakers vice-president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka said he "would be embraced here with open arms and (we) want to put a path in front of him to have a successful season".

Last season, Westbrook averaged 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists over 78 contests for the Lakers, who went a disappointing 33-49 in the regular season, with their "Big Three" playing together in only 21 games.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE