Photo: NBA.com Canada

The Los Angeles Lakers made major moves to improve their roster in an attempt to win a second championship in three years after a first round playoff exit this past season. The most notable one was the signing of Russell Westbrook whose arrival formed the big three in LA along with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

In addition to Westbrook, the Lakers signed accomplished veterans Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Trevor Ariza. The overall picture on paper puts the team among the top favorites to win it all next season. But according to Lakers coach Phil Handy, there is a lot of work to be done before the team is able to win a title. Handy, who has three championships under his belt as a coach, pointed out that the players will have to learn to sacrifice for the greater good of the team.

Via Ryan Gaydos of Fox News:

“Paper doesn’t win championships for us. Those names that are on that paper, are some phenomenal names. … We gotta do our work and make sure we gel. Do we fit? These guys, they gotta figure out ways to play with each other and sacrifice, and let their names take over,” Handy said.

“You know, you look at that piece of paper and say, Lakers are loaded, automatic championship. Nah man, we got a lot of work to do in terms of just gelling, finding our rhythm and being able to be cohesive as a unit.”