Larry Brown Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder were locked into an incredibly close game with the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night, but that didn’t stop Russell Westbrook from taking some time during the fourth quarter to harass the Nuggets mascot.

The mascot, who is known as Rocky, was attempting a couple of backwards over-the-head shots from half court when Westbrook decided that the shots were not going to fall on his watch. According to Eye on Basketball, one of Rocky’s attempts would have even won the crowd a free snack if he hit it. Westbrook jumped up and goaltended it anyway.

Apparently Westbrook just felt that he could do whatever he wanted and no one could stop him. That seemed to be true throughout his 36-point night in which he hit a clutch three-pointer to help send the game to overtime, so why not carry it into commercial breaks as well? Denver won the game in overtime, but thanks to Westbrook their fans missed out on the potential of free queso.

Maybe Rocky should just stick to Tebowing. No one can stop him from doing that.

For every moment of greatness Russell Westbrook has with the Oklahoma City Thunder, he has another that frustrates the heck out of his teammates and the fans. When Westbrook is under control and not trying to force the issue, he is one of the best point guards in the NBA. On Christmas Day against the Miami Heat, he was not that guy.

Westbrook scored 21 points, but he was only 5-for-19 from the field. He turned the ball over five times while recording only three assists. He also tried to draw a foul shooting a three-pointer with the game on the line and didn’t get the call, so he threw a fit that resulted in a technical and sealed the win for Miami. After the game, Kendrick Perkins made some comments that were almost certainly directed at Westbrook.

“I just feel like … we just got to start getting back to who we are as individuals,” Perk told The Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry. “Turning off the TV and stop looking at articles on ourselves and start just losing ourselves in the team a little bit more, then the sky’s the limit.

“We just got to start knowing what got us here and what each guy did to get us to this point. We just got to make sure we start knowing who we are and what we are and what we mean to this team as individuals and the rest will take care of itself.”

Two seasons ago, a Thunder veteran reportedly said that he believes Westbrook thinks he’s a better player than Kevin Durant. L.B. wrote at the time that he had a hunch the player was Perk, and these comments would seem to support that theory.

For the most part, Perkins is right. The Thunder play their best stretches of basketball when Westbrook focuses on being a point guard who can score — not a scorer who also happens to run the point. Fortunately for Oklahoma City, it’s still very early in the season. Oh yeah, and Westbrook is only 24 years old.

Anyone watching Friday’s Lakers-Thunder game probably noticed that Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook played a little harder than usual. Oklahoma City won the game 114-108. Westbrook tied a season high with 33 points, and he made a career-high five three pointers (all in the first half) during what was an explosive game. Durant went for 36 points, which is one shy of tying his season high.

If you believe a report from CSN Bay Area’s Ric Bucher, there’s a reason why the Thunder All-Stars appeared to go all out that game.

Here’s what Bucher reported:

Source says the Black Mamba talked relentless smack during the Olympics that the Thunder stars weren’t going back to the Finals after the Lakers acquired Steve Nash and then added Dwight Howard right before the U.S. played Spain for the gold medal. Kobe also made a point of guarding Westbrook during practices and pumping him up, the theory being that he wanted to incite Russ to bump heads with KD over who the team’s best player is. (If you think that’s too conspiratorial to be real, you don’t know Kobe.) KD, in particular, got tired of hearing him. For what it’s worth: KD and Westbrook’s combined 69 points is the highest single-game total they’ve posted this season.

I don’t know about the theory regarding Kobe’s master plan to get Russ and KD to bump heads, but I wouldn’t put it past him. He is a pretty slick, conniving fellow, though I do think he takes to Westbrook’s personality.

I definitely believe the Thunder were fired up for the game for several reasons.

The Lakers were supposed to be the top team in the NBA after adding Howard and Nash. There was all this talk about them supplanting Oklahoma City as the top team in the Western Conference, and apparently the Thunder were out to prove otherwise. Combine those two things with trash talk from Kobe, and you get the explosive game from the OKC stars.

I think it’s really interesting to keep this story in mind as the season goes on. Not only are the Lakers in trouble because of their struggles, but also because they motivated OKC.

Chest bump to Pro Basketball Talk

Russell Westbrook threw down an absolute monster of a dunk in Oklahoma City’s thrashing of the Charlotte Bobcats on Monday.

Right before halftime, Westbrook blew by Bobcats guard Kemba Walker and elevated for the power jam to put the Thunder up 64-24 going into the break.

“They was sleeping. Everybody’s head turned, so I decided to go and take off,” Westbrook said of the dunk.

Westbrook was then asked why he threw down so hard.

“It’s a tendency. I have a tendency of dunking the ball like that. Just natural, I guess.”

According to the Associated Press, the 40-point advantage was the fifth-largest halftime lead of the shot clock era. I really can’t imagine a team doing worse than scoring 24 points in one half of an NBA game. That’s pathetic, especially considering that the Bobcats appeared to be turning things around.

Westbrook finished with 12 points and 11 assists and didn’t need to play more than 21 minutes in the blowout.

In the latest edition of “What’s Russell Westbrook wearing?” the Thunder guard is seen sporting a leopard print shirt and spiky shoes. Westbrook posted the picture on his Instagram account on Thursday. He’s apparently in New York for fashion week because, you know, he’s one of the best-dressed athletes in the NBA (in his eyes). At least he found a place where his awful outfits won’t be out of place.

H/T Black Sports Online via Hot Clicks
Photo via Russell Westbrook/Instagram

Now that the Oklahoma City Thunder lost in the NBA Finals and the season is over, we have to send you off with one last look at what Russell Westbrook was wearing to his postgame press conference.

Westbrook showed up to his final presser of the season wearing a jean vest that was cut off at the sleeves, and a pair of glasses. I guess he hopped on his Harley and rode off into the Miami night after the game.

To recap Westbrook’s eye-catching outfits throughout the postseason, let’s look at what he’s worn:

- Red lens-less glasses and short sleeve fish hook shirt
- Red pants and paint-splattered shirt
- Yellow teddy bear shirt and funky shoes
- Long sleeve Dr. Seuss shirt and red glasses

Here’s another up-close view of Westbrook’s jean cut-off vest look:

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Russell Westbrook has been the media and fans’ whipping boy whenever anything goes wrong with the Thunder.

The criticism of Westbrook goes back to last season when the Thunder lost to the Mavericks in the playoffs. Many observers were watching the All-Star point guard play for the first time, and they were aghast that he didn’t play like a typical point guard. They couldn’t (and some still can’t) comprehend that Westbrook is an elite athlete whose specialty is getting to the hole and scoring, not passing.

Whenever things went wrong for OKC in the playoffs last year, the media and fans blamed Westbrook for not passing to Kevin Durant enough. The criticism has followed the same pattern this postseason.

After Oklahoma City’s Game 2 and 3 losses in the Finals, there were frequent calls for Westbrook to change the way he was playing. People lost their minds and forgot that Westbrook’s style helped the Thunder achieve the third-best record in the NBA and reach the NBA Finals. Once the team began losing, the media needed to point the finger, and Westbrook became the punching bag like usual. Good thing for Oklahoma City that Russell is above all that.

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