Even now that he is finished with Year 17 in the NBA, Russell Westbrook continues to be extremely on brand.
Westbrook and the Denver Nuggets saw their season come to an end on Sunday with a demoralizing 125-93 defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 of their second-round playoff series. During the game at Paycom Arena in Oklahoma City, O.K., Westbrook had a forgettable 6-5-2 line on 2/7 shooting, also finishing as a game-worst -34 in his 22 minutes off the bench.
Vinny Benedetto of the Denver Gazette asked Westbrook after the game about whether the former MVP had made a decision on potentially picking up his player option for next year. According to Benedetto, Westbrook then looked at his watch and asked Benedetto what he would be wearing tomorrow. When Benedetto replied that he did not know yet, Westbrook said, “Exactly” and then left.
Tried to get Russell Westbrook in the locker room to see he had made a decision on his player option for next season. He looked at his watch and asked what I was wearing tomorrow. When I said I didn’t know, he said “exactly” and walked off.
— Vinny Benedetto (@VBenedetto) May 18, 2025
Nuggets aren’t doing exit interviews.
That was quite philosophical there from Westbrook. He might as well have responded to the question by saying, “What is the mind? No matter. What does it matter? Never mind.”
Westbrook’s attempts to have his Eric Cantona “When the seagulls follow the trawler” moment aside, the nine-time All-Star does have an interesting decision to make this offseason. Set to turn 37 later this year, Westbrook can lock in a guaranteed $3.5 million from the Nuggets next season by picking up his player option. But one could make the argument that Westbrook’s true market value is higher than that right now as he looked good with averages of 13.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. Westbrook also wasn’t as much of a playoff liability this year, leading all bench players in points scored this postseason and injecting some real energy into the Nuggets multiple times over the course of their playoff run.
That said, Westbrook’s unpredicable demeanor continues to make him an enigma, and a recent report even claimed that he was confronted by a Denver teammate earlier in the postseason. Westbrook also still clearly disdains the media at large, and that continued on Sunday after his team’s season-ending loss.
