Lakers News: Former All-NBA Talent Who Moved To Bench Late In Career Talks Russell Westbrook's New Role

Brodie has been reborn as a bench player.

As Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated observes in a new interview, retired Miami Heat superstar Dwyane Wade numbers among the slim tally of star players who embraced a reserve role in the twilight of their NBA years. Among recent retirees, Vince Carter is another former great who effectively made the change.

Wade discussed what the move requires mentally and emotionally for a player, and how he thinks Westbrook is adjusting.

"When you talk about a player like Russell or myself who’s had the ball, who’s been responsible for 50-plus percent of their team’s points on a nightly basis, when this is who you become, this is who you identify with and this is who everyone expects you to be," Wade said. 

"And then everyone in the world is watching you get older, and they feel that it's some kind of decline that you don’t necessarily maybe feel or see, but you know your game is not where it was when you’re 18. But you don’t see that massive decline that the world thinks they see. People don’t understand. It’s about the situation. And Russ has now put himself in a better situation by coming off the bench. I’m glad that he’s got to this point where he sees that it’s not him, that it’s situational and that depending which one he’s in, he knows what role he needs to play."

In his 23 games since he started coming off the bench, Westbrook has averaged 14.2 points on .417/.311/.688 shooting splits, 7.9 assists, 5.8 rebounds and 0.9 steals per game.

Wade, a 6'4" shooting guard who won three championships and was a 13-time All-Star, was shifted to a reserve role in his 15th season, which he split between the Cleveland Cavaliers, alongside now-Laker LeBron James and the Miami Heat. He holds career averages of 22 points (shooting 48% from the floor and 76.5% from the free throw line), 5.4 dimes, 4.7 boards, 1.5 steals and 0.8 blocks a night.