FIFTY-FIVE MINUTES before tipoff at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook take the court for a joint workout that Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy guides.
"We've been tied at the hip, pretty much, since we made the acquisition," James says of Westbrook at media day. "We're going to continue to be that. We're going to hold each other accountable."
He isn't lying. Just like at their first sweat session together as teammates in August at the Yeshiva University High School's gym just north of Beverlywood, California, Handy puts them through their paces.