Darvin Ham provides injury updates for Russell Westbrook and Dennis Schroder ahead of Lakers opener

The Los Angeles Lakers are set to start their 2022-23 regular season on Tuesday on the road against the Golden State Warriors.

Head coach Darvin Ham recently offered some updates regarding Dennis Schroder and Russell Westbrook, who are both dealing with injuries.

Schroder is dealing with a finger injury and will be out for a while. Westbrook, on the other hand, is dealing with a hamstring injury, but might still feature in Tuesday’s regular season opener.

Schroder and Westbrook both being out for the game against the Warriors would create a pretty big headache for Ham. Those two are expected to play big roles in L.A.’s backcourt during the upcoming campaign.

The German national rejoined the Lakers in the offseason after an impressive showing at the 2022 EuroBasket tournament. During the competition, he averaged 22.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game while knocking down 32.1 percent of his attempts from downtown.

The Lakers are surely hoping that Schroder can perform at that level whenever he does end up returning to the court. The team reportedly is hoping to use the 29-year-old to chase high-movement point guards such as Ja Morant and Stephen Curry.

As for Westbrook, he’s looking to put his disastrous 2021-22 season behind him and make a solid impact for L.A. this season. He could end up coming off the bench for the team during the regular season, and it seems like he’s ready to do whatever it takes to help the Lakers win.

The nine-time All-Star came off the bench in the team’s final preseason game against the Sacramento Kings, playing five minutes before exiting with the hamstring injury.

Lakers fans are dying to know what starting lineup Ham will roll out for Tuesday’s opener. He experimented with multiple starting units during the team’s preseason campaign, which ended with one win and five losses.

It seems like the only sure-fire starters right now are LeBron James and Anthony Davis. They are the team’s best players and will be the ones to carry the squad all season long.

Last season, Los Angeles hobbled its way to a 33-49 finish. Of course, that wasn’t even enough to make it to the play-in tournament.

With a vastly new supporting cast, the Lakers will look to start off on the right foot and spoil Golden State’s party on Tuesday night.