Russell Westbrook and Patrick Beverley both want championship rings if the Los Angeles Lakers win the 2023 NBA title, Beverley said Wednesday. During a live podcast after the Boston Celtics’ win against the Philadelphia 76ers, Beverley said he saw Westbrook in the gym earlier that day and his former Lakers teammate had something to say.
“Russy says, ‘Hey, Pat. Lakers win, I want my ring,'” Beverley said with a laugh.
Beverley’s response, per Beverley: “I’m not gonna lie, Russ. We’ll put on our suit and boots, boy. I’ll be there, waiting for that ring.”
Once rivalsBeverley and Westbrook fast friends when the Lakers acquired Beverley last summer. However, in February, Los Angeles remade its roster, trading Beverley to the Orlando Magic and Westbrook to the Utah Jazz. Both guards agreed to buyouts and signed with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Clippers, respectively.
The Lakers were 25-30 after Beverley and Westbrook’s last game with the team, but have since gone on a season-ending run, finishing 43-39, winning a play-in game, the No. 2-seeded Memphis Grizzlies out in six games to take a 1-0 series lead against the defending champion Golden State Warriors in the second round. They’re where they are as a result of the moves that sent Beverley and Westbrook elsewhere, but if they’re going to win the whole thing, it’s theoretically possible that the two veterans — and Kendrick Nunn, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damian Jones and Thomas Bryant, all of whom were also traded, were able to receive championship rings.
In 2017, after the Warriors won the title, they won gave a ring to Andreason Varejao, whom they had waived in February. However, two years later, the Toronto Raptors did not offer rings to Jonas Valanciunas, CJ Miles and Delon Wright, all of whom were traded mid-season. “It’s not an easy decision,” said Raptors general manager Bobby Webster Toronto sun at the time “but honestly I think it’s standard.” Webster called the situation in Varejao “a truly unique circumstance”.