Larry Brown Sports

Russell Westbrook is stuck with the role of cheerleader for the Oklahoma City Thunder while he is out recovering from a knee injury. On Wednesday night, he was in attendance rooting for his teammates while wearing a “Let’s Go Thunder” shirt. Yes, THE Russell Westbrook.

Many of you are probably thinking to yourselves, “So what?” Let us not forget that this is the same Westbrook who wears cutoff sleeves and a gold chain to his postgame press conferences. This is the same guy who had the stones to wear this outfit during All-Star weekend earlier this year.

Seeing Westbrook wearing something we can’t make fun of is like seeing Superman without his cape. Something just isn’t right.

Photo via @cjzero

It’s that time of the year again. You know, the one where we all think Russell Westbrook is messing with us with the stuff he wears to his playoff postgame press conference but he’s really just being Russell Westbrook.

The Oklahoma City Thunder guard kicked things off in a big way after a 120-91 win over the Houston Rockets on Sunday night. As you can see from the photo that @cjzero passed along, Westbrook went with cutoff sleeves and a gold chain. Naturally, he also busted out some fantastic grandma glasses.

Westbrook always dresses pretty funny (his outfit during All-Star weekend is a perfect example), but the playoffs are his time to shine. We know the outrageous clothing will be there. Thunder fans can only hope the fantastic play on the court will be as well.

Oklahoma City Thunder stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook have had some minor problems with one another in the past, but they seem to have worked through all that and developed a very functional relationship. They have certainly been connecting on the court, but their friendship off the court seems to be strengthening as well.

Later this month, ESPN The Magazine will be running a feature on Westbrook that focuses on his fashion sense. According to Durant, that sense of fashion has led to a new nickname for Westbrook.

“Oh, he’s a diva,” Durant told ESPN the Magazine. “I call him Sasha Fierce. On the court, he’s a fierce competitor. Off the court, he’s chilling in front of the mirror, making sure he got the right lip balm on.”

If you are unfamiliar with Westbrook’s quirky sense of fashion, we have a couple of perfect examples for you here and here. The 24-year-old wears some of the whackiest crap we have ever seen to press conferences. Whether it’s picking out a ridiculous shirt or wearing some fake hipster glasses, it’s no secret that Westbrook puts a lot of thought into how he looks when he leaves home. And he doesn’t care what anyone thinks about it.

“He don’t care what people say when he plays or when he dresses up,” Thabo Sefolosha said.

Nick Collison added that it is that type of confidence from Westbrook that makes him such an effective player.

“He does what he likes to do,” Collison said. “He knows what he is and he doesn’t care what other people want him to be. That’s how he plays and that’s how he carries himself.”

Durant isn’t the first teammate of Westbrook’s to call him a diva and he probably won’t be the last, but Thunder fans should keep their fingers crossed that their star point guard never loses that confidence. If Westbrook weren’t Sasha Fierce off the court, he might not be leading one of the best offenses in the NBA on it.

Below is a video from Levi’s of Westbrook talking about his fashion:

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Russell Westbrook used one of the NBA’s biggest stages to prove to everyone that he still has a knack for wearing awful clothes.

The Oklahoma City guard wore outrageous outfit after outrageous outfit throughout NBA All-Star Weekend in Houston. The outfit pictured above is what he wore to Sunday’s All-Star Game. That’s tight pants, a collared short-sleeve shirt that got outlawed in the 80s, a red bow tie, matching red suspenders, glasses, and a little cap on his head. He looked like he was getting ready for a job interview to work at the Matterhorn in Disneyland. I bet if you look hard enough, you could find Kevin Durant hiding in his lederhosen.

On Saturday he wore this alphabet shirt to the festivities, which included the Slam Dunk Contest:

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The Oklahoma City Thunder suffered one of their worst losses of the season at the hands of the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night, and as a result Russell Westbrook was not in a cheery mood after the game. Westbrook held his mandatory meeting with reporters in the locker room, but the session was cut short when a report asked an incredibly cliche question.

“Russell, did you guys lose this game or did the Jazz win this one?” a voice could be heard asking.

“What?!” Westbrook replied with a baffled look on his face. “Bro, what are you talking about, man? I’m out, man.”

Guys who throw temper tantrums like this don’t want to be asked dumb questions like that. I understand the concept of a team “beating itself,” but it is one of the most overused excuses in sports today. Any group of players could say they beat themselves on any given night, but at the end of the day one team loses and one team wins. It’s hard to fault Westbrook for getting upset at that question.

Video via The Big Lead

Russell Westbrook threw a fit on the Oklahoma City Thunder bench and went into the tunnel to compose himself after getting upset during the third quarter of his team’s 106-89 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday.

Westbrook was called for a 5-second violation during the third quarter with the Thunder up 65-40. He appeared to be upset with teammate Thabo Sefolosha for not going where he wanted him to be, leading to the violation. Less than a minute later, Oklahoma City called a timeout and subbed out Westbrook for Reggie Jackson.

Westbrook was upset on the bench and walked into the tunnel to compose himself before returning. OKC’s lead decreased from 21 to 12 before Westbrook finally re-entered the game at the start of the fourth quarter.

“There’s no question he was frustrated with himself,” coach Scott Brooks said of Westbrook, per Royce Young of DailyThunder.com. “He’s an emotional guy.”

Brooks said Westbrook’s tantrum was “nothing” and that he headed to the tunnel because he “had to regroup.”

Below is a video of the play that got Westbrook upset:

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Kendrick Perkins has been in the NBA for 10 seasons and has been lucky to play with two of the top point guards in the league. Perkins and Rajon Rondo were teammates on the Boston Celtics for 4.5 seasons, and they became close friends during their time together. After Perk was traded to Oklahoma City, he became teammates with Russell Westbrook.

Perkins says Rondo and Westbrook have more in common than just being All-Star point guards.

“They definitely different [from other point guards],” Perkins told ESPN’s Justin Verrier. “They both some divas. In a good way though.”

Perkins may have said he meant that in a good way, but is there any way to consider calling someone a diva a good thing? “Diva” has a negative connotation no matter what. Additionally, Perkins has seemingly been critical of Westbrook in the past, so this comment won’t help appearances.

As for Westbrook’s overall development, another Thunder player gave a more positive review.

“In training camp [Westbrook] was great,” Nick Collison told Verrier. “He came in this year another year older, another year wiser and more comfortable I think with himself.

“He’s showing a lot of leadership. A lot of things people don’t see; he’s grown up a lot. The way he’s grown, the way Kevin’s grown, it’s helped us adjust from the trade and be able to kind of keep going. They deserve a lot of credit for the way they’ve stepped up as leaders.”

Westbrook and Kevin Durant led the Thunder to the NBA Finals last year, and they have led the Thunder to the best record in the NBA this season. Based on the way he dresses, it’s easy to see why someone would call Westbrook a diva. But it’s hard to criticize the way he plays on the court.

H/T Pro Basketball Talk