Downloaded from YTS.MX
[film reel ticking]
They go that yard. They said, "You know what?
I'm going to come at your head every opportunity I get."
Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX
"The most athletic point guard any of us has ever seen."
Height of egomania.
When I watch Russell Westbrook, I go from
the best player who ever lived, to the next play,
you can't win a championship with this guy.
He's a pit bull, and you can't tell
a pit bull to be a chihuahua.
He is the convertible sports car of the NBA.
He's glamorous. He's sexy. He's iPod.
He is pure evil.
He is ferocious. He will take you out.
[static flourish]
[child babbling]
Come here. You better not be running in the house.
What's up, man?
Huh?
I run too fast.
You ran too fast?
Yeah. I ran too far.
You going to come watch the game tonight, watch daddy play?
I might get go in the game.
Okay. Yeah, we're going to go to the game.
You going to hang with nana and papa, and I'll see you later?
Okay. All right. High five.
You ready, bro?
You've been crying?
You going to cry.
He ain't gone cry.
[ambient chatter]
[crowds cheering]
I think people...
don't really understand who I am.
And a lot of that is because of what
I let people see and what I don't let them see.
[man] They're all here for you.
Oh no. It's just a few people. That's cool. Ain't that long.
They're waiting for the bus.
They're waiting for you.
I think in the sports world, I am the bad guy.
I am the guy that's easy target because of
the way I play the game, with a passion and emotion.
Westbrook sees an opening and throws it down.
There's that nuclear athleticism
of Russell Westbrook.
The way I compete, I think I'm an easy target
to be able to throw shit on.
[crowd cheering]
The lob. Westbrook! Oh, my.
He's his own worst enemy. He wants it too much.
He plays too hard. He tries too hard.
To other people, the normal person on the street,
I could be an asshole
because of what they hear, and what they see.
REPORTER: Are you upset with something?
I just don't like you.
He's volatile.
Westbrook's arguing with fans, children,
media, coaches, rivals.
Nobody wants to play with Russ.
Early in my career, there were a lot of made up narratives,
a lot of negative things said about my character, who I was.
And that was fuel for me to be able to be the best.
I know who I am.
And I understand what I bring and understand...
what I do.
I'm Russell.
Sometimes my emotions can take control of me,
but I think when you're authentic to who you are,
everything else will fall in place.
["Grinding All My Life" by Nipsey Hussle]
[whistles blaring]
All my life, been grindin' all my life
Sacrificed, hustle paid the price
Want a slice? Got to roll the dice
That's why, all my life, I been grindin' all my life
Legendary baller, like Mike, like Wilt
I say self made, meanin' I designed myself
All my life, been grindin' all my life
[static]
[crowds cheering]
-[whistles blaring] -ANNOUNCER: The game ends.
The Lakers have won it, again.
[cheering]
[crowds hooting]
And the world champions are the Lakers.
I come from a place where I ain't never
even think about the NBA.
I didn't think about nothing about
making it to the pros.
[police sirens blaring]
REPORTER: This is Los Angeles, a city with many claims
on America, including this one.
It is now the gang capital of the nation.
A lot of people don't make it where I'm from.
A lot of people don't live past 20-25 years old,
where I come from.
REPORTER: Police and residents here link the shooting spree
to an ongoing turf war between rival drug gangs.
Get over here. Let me see your hands.
Get your hands on your head.
Showtime!
It's simple. You grow up in the inner city.
You gang bang. You sell drugs.
Those come hand and foot.
So, I did that.
REPORTER: Why do the youngsters in these neighborhoods
continue to join up?
They're a symptom of a lot of root problems like
poverty and dysfunctional families.
Ninety percent of my friends was in it.
So, you pick up those habits.
And you pick up those habits and okay, now you learn.
You go to prison and you will learn.
I was about 25,
stayed three and a half.
And I always said to myself,
"If I'd ever have any kids, they're going to do better."
Simple as that.
[funky twanging]
Growing up in LA
really shaped me to who I am today.
And I think that's a huge part of
where I get a lot of my emotions and passion from.
-What's up, bro? -What's the deal, yo?
What's up, buddy?
-How you doing, man? -Calling it.
Appreciate it, bro. Yes, sir.
Hey, Russel!
What's up, baby? All right, bro? Yes, sir.
Aw, oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Appreciate it.
We had some fun times over here.
-13643, Moly Avenue. -The Moly Avenue.
Apartment 212.
Yeah, this street was always quiet.
It really wasn't a loud type of street.
It was just quiet all the time.
You could catch people walking to the store
and bringing their kids.
Well, it wasn't quiet all the time.
Yeah. It wasn't quiet all the time. Not all the time.
It's Sunday right now. Yeah, you're right. That's right.
That's a police badge right there.
Yeah, that'll show you right there it ain't quiet.
I'm pretty sure those days my dad went through that,
he made sure I didn't have to go through with it.
Wasn't in gangs or street violence.
And that's something that I stayed away from.
I was shy when I was younger. I was a shy kid,
and kinda stayed to myself.
He never was the type to be around a whole bunch of people.
He kept his circle real small.
He's a kid, man. You know?
He pretty much wanted to do his own thing.
Never been a follower. He was always smart.
I was a good student when I was younger.
I was an honor roll student and that's
something that I wanted to do
not for myself, but to set example for my brother.
Yeah, me and my brother, we're two years apart.
He's my best friend, my road dog, my ACE,
whatever you want to call it.
That's my go-to guy.
He stays on my ass, but that's cool. I like that.
And my parents always emphasized that to me,
that your brother's always watching.
And I felt like it was my duty to be and make sure
that I set the tone.
He told on me a lot too,
so I guess you could say he was a snitch, too.
Whatever. Just being honest.
You know me. But...
Well, this used to be it right here.
[clapping] Hike one, hike two.
Hike one, hike two?
-Ain't nobody saying that, man. -Ain't nobody saying that?
No. You used to run up and down here, Russ.
Crack people, boy.
You grow up in a gang environment,
that don't mean you have to go that way.
You still have your own choice of what you want to do.
Football was my first love, I would say,
just in sports, in general.
I like contact and wanted to hit.
And I wanted to be in the mix and go fuck somebody up.
That simple.
He was the skinniest kid out there.
But when he get in them lines,
he becomes just this enormous person.
Once they start playing football, I'd give them a name.
Hawk was Rey. The Warrior was Russell.
One, two, three, oh boy.
Watch out, watch out! Watch out!
-Watch out! -Got to the tree.
Got to the tree.
Oy, watch out.
That's what I do.
See that right there? That's what I do.
It's what I do.
That's what I do.
Was he emotional and passionate like that as a kid?
-No? -No. He didn't show
any expression.
For a kid to have four tubs
and everybody in the stadium is yelling your name, and...
no response.
It was serious, serious with him.
He didn't laugh. He didn't giggle.
He didn't clown off. He didn't brag.
After the game, he would go sit in the stands
while all the other kids was running around the field.
He wouldn't celebrate.
When he was younger, he was more focused on
getting out there, giving 110% and winning that game.
Now, if we bombed now,
he would be sad if we lost,
it bothered him if we lost.
Now, that is always been in him.
He hates losing.
Basketball entered the picture for me around the same time.
RUSSELL: I just was doing it for fun,
keep the sports flowing, keep me active,
keep me out of trouble, honestly.
He just seemed like he was a competitive young man.
Played hard, like all the other kids on my team.
But I'm not going to say and say, "Oh, he was destined.
I knew he was going to the NBA." No, I did not see that.
If Russell put up a shot or three,
it would be like, "Oh no, don't do it."
I wouldn't want him to shoot.
Russell was little.
So, what was instilled in him
was outplay your opponent,
outlast your opponent,
by running hard, playing defense hard.
Play non-stop,
both sides of the court, no matter what.
His first coach, Reggie Hamilton, he said,
"Can I yell at him?
It seemed like that makes him go,
when you yell at him."
Because I'd be on the side like,
"Russell, let's go, let's go.
Let's go, Warrior. Let's go."
His dad always kept it real with his son, with Russell.
He never sugar-coated anything.
He was very firm, very aggressive
in how he talked to him.
I used to keep stats for both my kids.
And I think that was motivational for him
to come home and say, "Daddy, what'd I do?"
My dad always pushed me to be the best I can be,
not just telling me to do things,
but talking me through and giving me an explanation on
why he thought this is what I should be doing,
on why he thought this was best for my brother,
or why he thought this was best for me.
His mom was always there. Always there.
He was kind of like a mama's boy.
If I needed something out of Russ,
all I had to do was go to Shannon and it was a wrap.
All of the kids didn't have that.
All kids don't have that foundation
to allow them to pursue their dreams.
You want to be a father that's there
because you know what happened to you,
what could have happened to you.
There was one incident where
one gang went to fight another gang.
I come down there, and I'm like,
"What are you guys fighting for?
Y'all know each other."
They go, "Yeah, Russell, you right, big homie.
You right. Blah blah blah."
But one of my friends, that's maybe about
five years younger than me, but he looked up to me,
I shook his hand, dapped him, told him I love him.
He said, "I love you too, big homie."
All you hear is a pop pop.
By the time I let go of his hand and turned this way,
turn back, I'm watching you fall.
So, I go up there the next day and I
look at the house behind me.
I knock on the lady door
and say, "Three bullets came right here."
Now, that's directly behind me.
And that is a changing point in my life.
Believe me, that right there.
It's just God, bro.
It brings tears to my eyes every time I bring it up.
And bro, it really do.
It really do because I could have been gone.
They could have been without a daddy.
My first year of high school, I kind of messed up.
My dad, he told me to make sure I try out for the varsity team.
And I didn't listen.
I went and only tried out for the freshman team.
I'm 14 at the time, going to a new school
and basically said, "I'm going to just
try to take the easy way out."
And I made the freshman team.
And then when I got home, he was asking me,
"How the trials go?" I said, "It went great.
I'm on the freshman team." He's like, "The freshmen team?
What do you mean the freshman team?"
I was like, "That's what I made. The freshman team."
He said, "Did you try out for varsity?" I was like, "No."
So, he was pissed. He was upset,
basically in his own words
telling me "That ain't going to get you through life.
That's not going to cut it."
The things that I wanted to do, I didn't do.
So, how do you get your children to do it?
You make them not afraid of doing it.
Fear no one.
My dad told me that when I was young kid.
Fear no man but God.
This means you ain't scared of nobody.
You fear no man, but God.
You don't even fear your dad.
So, you take that.
Anything that you do in life, you take that, so you fearless.
[static]
Big daddy is in the house!
Hold up, Russell Westbrook,
number four, has entered the building.
When you're looking at high school basketball players,
the ones that are usually the most physically gifted
are the ones who are best at early ages.
The guys who are the biggest, the strongest, the fastest.
But where Russell stood apart was the intangibles of
being smart and also being just tenacious and competitive.
Russell's a real laid back and relaxed guy.
But when he steps onto to the floor and he starts playing,
another attitude or another mind state comes in,
and that's what being a competitor is.
I don't like losing. I don't like being the second.
Always want to be at the top. I don't want to be at,
in the middle or the bottom average.
I just want to always be the top and
just try to strive for the best.
He was, like, extremely physical
with the kids that were way bigger and way older.
And he went right at them.
And you could just tell, he was going to be
tenacious and always have a chip on his shoulder.
REPORTER: Westbrook's teammates agree
that his alter ego appears
as soon as his feet hit the hardwood.
We call him Mighty Russ or whatever,
because when he be in the game or whatever,
or even when we practice, when he get the ball,
it's like it's go time. It's go time.
ANNOUNCER: Pressure, with the-- Whoa!
He always took chances in high school
and sometimes, Coach Morris would
pull them out the game because he was taking too many chances.
But a lot of the chances paid off.
ANNOUNCER: And the bucket on the pass off
to Russell Westbrook, sophomore.
He had something that he was driving for.
You say, "Well, where did that come from?"
That is a part of Khelcey.
Khelcey was that same attitude.
Khelcey, my childhood friend that
grew up right across the street from me,
an amazing basketball player.
One of my best friends growing up.
Khelcey Barrs was 6'6" in the ninth grade,
had lots of physical gifts and attributes.
ANNOUNCER: For Barrs, it's an offensive rebound.
And it will count. And he is fouled.
Khelcey Barrs with the put back.
He was the whole package.
He could shoot, dunk.
Woohoo!
Beautiful, beautiful.
Khelcey and Russell had a special relationship.
They were like brothers, kinda in a way.
ANNOUNCER: Going to go with Khelcey Barrs
and they will simply tip it up again.
And we will get underway.
Him and Russell had similar qualities as far as
competitive nature and just who they are as a person.
Khelcey had very ferocious dunks.
He was very loud and aggressive.
ANNOUNCER: Khelcey Barrs!
[Reggie] They always went at each other, always competing.
When both of them were playing at the same time,
they was like Kobe and Shaq.
And we'd sit there and watch them be dominant.
ANNOUNCER: Being recognized by every basketball authority
in Southern California as one of the premier players.
His sophomore year, he was becoming
a nationally known player.
UCLA, all the big schools reached out to him.
He was somebody that immediately,
we all thought, he was going to the NBA.
He would for sure go to the NBA.
PRODUCER: He was that much better than you?
He was that much better than everybody.
ANNOUNCER: Khelcey Barrs.
[cheering]
After the season was over, we used to go play
pickup basketball at LA Southwest College.
May 11th, 2004, we took Khelcey over.
Russell was there also, a few other teammates.
You playing against college guys, junior college guys.
We were winning every single game.
Khelcey stood out.
That was as good a day that he'd ever had
and everything was normal. He was cracking jokes.
And all of a sudden, he fell back
and his eyes rolled to the back of his head.
Tried to sit up and he looked around,
then all of a sudden just went back to the floor.
From there, the paramedics came and rushed him to the hospital.
But they pronounced him dead shortly after.
So...
REPORTER: He was fast becoming one of
the best basketball players in the country
but tonight, Khelcey Barrs is dead
after collapsing on the court.
The sudden death of the Southern California
high school star has stunned family and friends.
I just remember sitting in my living room,
just staring and crying and sitting on the floor,
kind of having this numb feeling of,
how could this happen?
You could see, uh...
his-- my son's expression on his face.
My son broke down. He broke down.
He broke down for a while.
Just 16 years old, a very promising basketball star.
Colleges were already looking at him.
And even some people in the NBA.
We still don't know the cause of his death
but his family and friends are mourning.
He had an enlarged heart.
It was something that maybe could have been caught,
but it wasn't.
He was young.
So, you get these questions that need to be answered.
I was confused on why it happened
and how it happened.
And when it happened.
He lost a bit of, probably innocence that day,
just like the rest of us did,
knowing that somebody could be with you, and then at the very
next moment, they're not there.
And you've got to give it all that you have because
who knows what's going to be taken from you?
Two years ago, we were here with Khelcey.
Last game of the year.
You got to play it like you don't have any more left.
He's supposed to be here with us now.
It changed him a lot, put him in a different space
that you could be here today and gone tomorrow.
[cheering]
ANNOUNCER: Let's see how they start up
after that long intermission for the retirement ceremony.
Well, that's a good way to start,
with Westbrook shooting the ball.
He kind of turned it up a notch
on the court because he knew
how Khelcey wanted to play, you know?
And he played as if he was there.
ANNOUNCER: Penetration by Westbrook.
And he leans in and scores.
He's supposed to be going to college,
playing university games, but they're gonna make it.
And I know they're going to always
continue to play for Khelcey.
ANNOUNCER: What a move by Westbrook for three!
Russell's junior year, he became the MVP of our league.
Westbrook goes to the hole.
Westbrook puts it up and in.
Senior year was so special.
Just the way Russell played was very similar
to how Khelcey played.
He was able to score.
He was able to defend at a high level,
ANNOUNCER: Rebound pass stolen by Westbrook.
Westbrook goes around.
He was putting up 30.
They didn't take him out, he was killing.
He was killing.
ANNOUNCER: That's Westbrook with the spin move.
He was doing everything that day.
ANNOUNCER: Here he comes, flying in with a slam dunk.
One of Russ' coaches had me fill the score book.
And I'm there filling the score book and they're saying 51.
I was like, "Yo, 51? All right.
-You talking about Kobe." -Westbrook, Overbrandt,
come on, join us here for a quick second.
Yeah. Come on. Russell Westbrook.
Well, I was close. Sorry about that.
What kind of thoughts does the team have right now?
Well, we want to come to practice tomorrow,
practice hard and try to get this win on Thursday
so we have a good chance of making the playoffs.
ANNOUNCER: Westbrook puts it up and in.
Count it.
I didn't know what was going on.
I'm like, every time we go through the mailbox.
Letters, letters, posters of Russ,
the rings from all these colleges.
I'm like, "Yo, bro, this is crazy.
You about to make it."
I didn't want to go far away from home.
I love being around my family
and I didn't want to lose that connection.
And UCLA came at the last, last possible moment.
It's crazy how everything transpired
because everything that happened for Russell
was what people envisioned for Khelcey.
I just want to thank God for giving me this opportunity.
And I think my mom, my dad, my little brother,
my coach,
and all my family members and friends for coming out,
see me going to college.
It's just a crazy turn of events, man,
because this is what he wanted to do.
This is what we talked about.
I never imagined that to be happening for me.
[Donnell] It was almost like Khelcey's spirit
jumped into Russell.
For sure, he carries his soul with him, 100%.
Russell still keeps him in his heart
and he keeps him in his hands,
keeps him in the ball and his shoe.
PRODUCER: Are you playing for him?
Definitely.
That's the reason why he's on my shoes.
I write him on my shoes every single game.
I wear a wristband every day,
on my chains, everywhere.
I...
make sure I honor him in any way that I can,
every time I step on the floor,
because I know he would have been...
right with me, right in the--
in the NBA for sure.
[static rustling]
[ambient chatter]
ANNOUNCER: Westbrook takes it inside.
Big move by the freshman.
He's a good size, 6'3", 18 years of age.
He was very raw.
You can't really see his skillset right away.
You saw that he was a big guard, he was athletic,
but no one saw
that he was going to be able to put it together.
I was a late freshmen and I was basically a walk on.
I was a last minute kind of decision because
that position was already filled.
I was just kind of there.
I didn't play much, averaged about two
or three minutes of game.
I remember one practice, I had made a move to the basket.
And then he rises up and then he swatted that thing so hard.
He said, "Get that-- out of here."
The gym was quiet because it was like,
okay, you just said that.
You did that to him.
That's when you kind of knew that this is Russ.
You know what I mean? That was his mentality.
He was going to compete against anybody
and he was going to talk trash.
And every day in practice, we would go at it.
[cheering]
My first thought of him was,
he's incredibly determined.
He's so competitive and no matter who we faced,
he was going to give it everything that he had.
I would see him on the other side of the court stretching.
I'm stretching. I'm looking like, all right,
yeah, this is about to go down.
And that's the relationship that we had
and we knew it was going to be intense.
ANNOUNCER: That's going to do it.
We're going to have this Florida team
looking for more history on Monday night.
RUSSELL: My freshman year, we lost the Final Four.
ANNOUNCER: Good night, UCLA.
I went straight to the weight room.
I didn't miss a day from that day.
I probably put on...
hm, 10-15 pounds, just lifting every day,
getting my body all worked out every day.
I didn't go home that summer.
You make me feel so light
I met Russell at UCLA.
I was a recruit, actually.
The women's coach at the time,
she used to use me to be able to make sure
the recruits were cool because I was chilling.
I don't know if she thought I was a ladies man or what.
But I wasn't mad at it.
I wasn't mad at that. I wasn't mad at that.
I will tell you, he was very different in college.
He was very shy. I thought that was funny because I wasn't.
Our first date, I used to order
the crab wontons from Cheesecake Factory.
I was like, here, you should try it.
And I told her I was allergic to shellfish.
And she's like...
-No, you're not. -I'm, like,
trying to make sure the date goes well,
trying to make sure I do all the right things.
And he did, he tried it. He had allergic reaction.
We had a go get Benadryl, his throat is itching.
And he is like [grunting], doing all of that.
I'm like, don't eat the shellfish.
I don't know what to tell you.
I was definitely rolling the dice
when I put the wonton in, for sure.
What attracted me to Russell is,
he was just focused on doing his own thing.
He would have a test coming up and he'd be like, "Okay,
I'll see you tomorrow, or in a couple days, I got to study."
It was like a perfect match, honestly.
I was never really into distractions or...
being-- I never really had a wild...
phase or anything like that.
And Russell was the same, we kind of were family,
at school, you know, focused.
You saw glimpses of him being a really, really good player.
It was just a matter of him putting it all together.
And I think his sophomore year off season,
when he started playing pickup more and more
against the pros was when he was really going to take off.
During the summertime, a lot of pros
would come in and you play in the mans gym of UCLA,
and they let the college kids play that went to UCLA.
I wanted to take full advantage.
He was there every day in the summer,
competing against those guys.
Everything kind of turned a notch for me,
and I was at a level where I felt like,
okay, maybe I can play with these guys.
Every stage that you take a step up,
whether it be high school to college,
college to the NBA,
guys are just going to get that much better.
And it was, obvious that he could play at that level.
I said, "Wow, this guy's going to be special."
I remember one time Kobe came up there
and obviously the gym is packed, wall to wall.
Every student is in there, you can't move.
And my first thing was like, "I got Kobe."
He did a solid job on Kobe.
I mean, nobody can stop Kobe, but, you know,
you talk about a guy that's going to be a sophomore
in college doing a solid job,
on one of the best two guards to ever play the game.
I remember him just telling me like,
you going to be all right because you came... at me.
And of course, yeah, I was getting torched,
but I can live with that.
He was playing like it was the finals.
It wasn't like he was taking this off.
He wasn't messing around and shooting BS shots.
He was playing a game as if he wasn't going to play tomorrow.
He created this mentality in my mind, like,
this is what greatness looks like.
This is what you need to do every day.
Every time you step on this floor,
every time you pick a ball up,
you need to play like you ain't going to play no more.
And that's the mentality that I've been able
to kind of take with me
to this day.
I think that sophomore year is where he took a leap.
ANNOUNCER: The senior from Jackson, Mississippi.
Westbrook hurries to the other end.
And everything just clicked for me, my athleticism.
ANNOUNCER: Seven point footer down.
In the lane, off the glass and in it.
Speed.
ANNOUNCER: And there's a steal by Westbrook.
He takes it all away.
At that time, if you had height, you were 6'3", 6'4",
you had to be a two guard and you couldn't be a point guard.
ANNOUNCER: Here's Westbrook.
He is extraordinary.
So for him to play in a point guard position and really well,
was an eyeopener for a lot of people.
[crowd chanting] Russell Westbrook!
He kind of changed that whole dynamic.
[crowd chanting] Russell Westbrook!
ANNOUNCER: He's got such quickness.
He reads. He's a step ahead.
[cheering]
You know you wanna see that, baby?
That's what I'm talking about. You know you wanna see it.
You know, this way, that way.
He's a champion, Pac-10 tournament champion,
Russell Westbrook, and defensive player of the year.
You got to be very, very satisfied with that honor.
Man, I'm satisfied.
I mean, throughout start of the year, coach told me,
he wanted me to be the best defender in the country.
That's what I tried to do throughout the whole year
by stopping the other team's best player.
It feels real good going to an tournament.
Mr. Momentum.
ANNOUNCER: All right, Greg, a partisan crowd,
17,000, here in Anaheim.
So close to the campus in the UCLA Bruins.
The number one seed against number 16,
Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils.
March Madness is about the longer you win,
the more people see you.
-ANNOUNCER: Look at this. -Oh my.
I'm going to make sure that I show the world
and show the people from my neighborhood
that you can watch me on TV.
That I'm gonna leave on the line,
I'm representing where I'm from.
ANNOUNCER: Hello. Take down the collar right now.
Westbrook. Unbelievable.
And the UCLA Bruins win it.
76-57.
We were playing Texas A&M and we about to lose.
We down the whole game, I probably played
the worst half of my college career at the time.
ANNOUNCER: They have cut a 21 point deficit to six.
Because I was kind of down on myself
throughout the whole game.
Like, damn, it's going to be my fault that we lose.
It's going to be my fault that we go home.
I'm not gonna be able to go to the NBA.
I'm about to lose it. I'm about to lose it.
And I remember that moment just saying like,
man, we in the moment, live in the moment.
The whole world is watching.
This is your time to shine. This is your moment.
And don't fuck it up.
ANNOUNCER: And one strips it from behind.
Westbrook, finally scores.
As time went on and that meteoric rise in college
just continued upward,
I wasn't surprised.
ANNOUNCER: Alison on the dribble,
with the block shot and Westbrook taking it
the other way for the exotic exclamation point.
What a great win!
Something within him, and you still see it today,
is just driving him.
ANNOUNCER: The final four is underway.
Whether it was his upbringing,
losing a best friend when he was young,
you know, big Russ.
All of that, just kind of initiates the flame for him.
ANNOUNCER: Westbrook.
This kid has come on so big time his sophomore year.
I remember one time we were talking about like, "Man,
what would it be like if we all made the NBA and
what do we want when we get there, if we do get there?"
And his one comment,
and I'll never forget to this day was,
he was like, "You know what? If I ever make it,"
he was like, "I just want to be able to, like,
take care of my family."
He didn't want to make it just for himself.
He wanted to make it so he could provide
for everybody around him.
That's what kind of build his fire.
I feel like God blessed me with an opportunity to be able
to take full advantage of it, to be able to take care of
the people that I love
and the people that have been
taking care of me my whole life.
Once I made the decision to build to go to the draft,
from then on my mind and mentality
was in the space that I couldn't get distracted.
I was going to class every day
and I was preparing for draft in the afternoon,
I would come back and go to class.
I remember people used to be like,
"Man, what are you doing here? What are you doing?"
I'm like, "Listen, this is what I need to do."
Just because I didn't know,
I didn't know what was gonna happen.
I wasn't going to be like, "I'm not going
to school no more. I don't need education."
Ultimately, he just decided
it was time for him to go because he had done well.
And this could be a good opportunity for him,
but he was definitely very nervous about it.
[static rustling]
ANNOUNCER: You know who the first two picks
-are gonna to be. -ANNOUNCER: Clearly,
much has been made about the fact
that this is basically a two-player race for
the number one overall pick, Derek Rose, Michael Beasley.
The first time my family, all of us traveled on
an airplane to go to New York, we never been there.
Never really experienced that.
I mean, we were sitting in first class. I was like,
"This is exciting." And you know,
forget the draft. We get to chill.
We go to the room, they got stuff in the room for us.
I'm like, man, this is cool.
We got free clothes, we doing all that stuff.
I'm just like, I'm just happy to be there.
That's just me. I'm just happy to be there.
Welcome to the 2008 NBA draft.
Just looking forward to get this old way, good times.
It happened so quick, man.
And two years earlier, I'm graduating high school.
Two years later,
you say, "Hey, we getting ready to go
to NBA draft." Whoa, whoa, what?
What is happening? What is happening?
REPORTER: Take us back two years.
What kind of prospect were you known as in media circles?
Nobody knew who I was.
I mean, I like it like that.
Now, I remember before the draft,
we all stand on the stage.
We got to take a little pre-draft picture
with the commissioner.
And I remember just looking down
and kind of going and scanning the room like...
All these players ahead of him were highly ranked
in high school and in college.
And I remember he told me, he said, one thing about the NBA,
is that ranking stuff don't mean nothing no more.
You have people talk and they go, "Russell will go
number 13, number 14."
And I asked my husband like, so what do that mean?
Is he going to get a lot of money now?
I didn't know.
With the fourth pick in the 2008 NBA draft,
the Seattle SuperSonics select Russell Westbrook from UCLA.
What? I'm like, what, what?
I don't think anybody anticipated
he would get drafted as early as he did.
Here's one of the interesting things about him.
This guy was a late bloomer.
He did not even start in his high school team
until his junior season.
Oh man, this is crazy.
I'm just all smiles, man. I'm just so happy.
I see my mom and dad, my brother, I'm just ecstatic.
I was just shocked.
I just couldn't believe it.
And right now today, I'm like "Our whole life finna change."
-ANNOUNCER: Kevin Durant there. -[woman] Hi, Kevin.
ANNOUNCER: He's like, thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
Durant, the NBA rookie of the year, this past season
welcomes Russell Westbrook into the fold.
Once I got drafted to Seattle,
but soon to be Oklahoma City Thunder.
I was like, damn, I'm about to play with Kevin Durant.
I'm like, man, this could be special.
I don't want to mess this up.
It's a nice city,
but there's nothing to do out there.
Coming from inner city LA,
big city,
a lot of lights, traffic, big buildings.
I get to Oklahoma City,
and there was none of that.
It probably was a little culture shock.
I just think that was the best place for him,
coming into the NBA.
It helped him grow up into a man.
We had so many young players.
We had Royal Ivey at the time
and he used to call him the Toys R Us crew.
The Toys R Us crew.
That's our group.
I rolled my eyes at them sometimes,
because it was just like, kids, man. You know?
But Kevin set the tone, I think, by...
being someone who put in a ton of work on his individual game.
And Russell came in, I think he saw
how Kevin worked and wanted to work just as hard.
He has a unique game.
What he does is different than
a lot of just straight pick and roll point guards.
I think if you look back at the game, you have guys
like Oscar Robinson, Magic, John Stockton.
If you average 10-6, you are considered a point guard.
And then evolution like Barron Davis, Steve Francis
kind of changed it to a little more of a scoring point guard.
For me, when I came to league, I wanted to be able to score,
pass, rebound, be able to do everything.
There are guys who, you draft a guy and it's like,
"This guy is like a 'natural point guard,'
so to speak and really sees the game."
And that wasn't what Russell did best
when he first got here.
ANNOUNCER: He's out of the pack.
Here's Westbrook racing up the floor, coast to coast
and he throws it down.
His game wasn't refined.
He just tried to, like, kill the guy in front of him.
ANNOUNCER: Off the backboard!
Not many players in the league can do that.
Some of the stuff he'd do would be wild.
He tried to throw it off the backboard to himself,
like in game, things like that.
Made a ton of mistakes, and I think, learned from those.
Ooh. One more try.
But I love the energy.
[cheering]
Kevin Durant is the face of the franchise.
He's everything you could want in a ball player,
but it's also hard to find a point guard built like
an NFL defensive back.
If you could call him a point guard.
ANNOUNCER: Oh, Westbrook.
It's always been a struggle.
I was trying to figure out when to score,
when to shoot, when do the right things on the floor.
But the way I played the position,
it's like nobody else.
ANNOUNCER: Westbrook. Pulling the trigger.
There's been a lot of really young promising teams
in the league, but they don't really break through
to really win playoff series
and really compete at a young age.
And I think the reason we did that is because Russ's tone
was like, "We're here to win," and the way he would just
go at it fearlessly,
it brought the whole team with him.
He's more than Kevin Durant's sidekick.
He has an NBA presence of his own.
He has entered star status.
Russell Westbrook, slam dunk contest commercial, take 11.
Everything changed.
He was in the NBA and I was living on campus,
going to school.
Then he would come into town and stay in my dorm with me.
That was really embarrassing.
It was really weird for me.
PRODUCER: Why?
Just because he got too much attention.
I don't really want that kind of attention,
but it was convenient.
A lot of people mentioned Oklahoma City,
as all market.
"You can't do anything in a small market,
you can't get endorsement in a small market.
You can't do this in a small market."
I was like, "Watch this."
Your boy's staying fresh
He's looking at my moves
It's called geek chic.
REPORTER: I love the glasses,
when did you come up with that style?
I see better without them.
It's funny now looking back on it,
Russ single handily basically destroyed the NBA dress code.
Look at Russell Westbrook.
You got to be a hell of player to wear that outfit.
I appreciated it because they couldn't really enforce
me not wearing the right shoes when Russell's walking in
with his shirt undone, bare chested.
Son, my son ripped it.
Reinventing himself
and establishing fashion trends by the game.
He doesn't express himself verbally a ton.
So I think, if you just pay attention to what he's got on,
you'll get a little insight into how he's feeling that day.
I believe everyone knows why I wear this.
Sometimes, he will just have on normal sweat pants.
And sometimes it's like, he is so loud
and we can be going to the same place.
He looks like he's going on vacation in Hawaii somewhere,
and I look like I'm going to a dinner party.
And I'm always trying to coordinate with Russell.
"Can we please look like we're going to
the same place tonight?"
Barneys threw a party in honor of him
and his clothing line.
Yeah, he had the full mink.
He was killing me with that one.
I want one of those coats, but as a fashion king,
he going to bring something new out every day.
Here's you coming to the game,
and everyone just thought that you were stealing.
[all laughing]
Just saying, man, come on.
RUSSELL: Yeah. I mean, I guess he's copying me. It's true.
As with all things with Russell,
he was like, "I'm going to be me.
So this is just what I'm wearing and I'll make it cool."
And that's kind of how he approaches life, I think.
REPORTER: People call you a style icon.
I mean, how do you take that?
What does that mean to you?
It's a blessing.
I do this on my own, no stylist.
And I just kind of go and have my own swag
and I think that's the greatest part about it.
I never grew up thinking I would be famous,
never grew up thinking I'm going to have a lot of money.
My parents always taught me, stay grounded,
stay humble and understand who you are.
So when it started to happen, I wasn't phased by it,
because I was true to who I was.
He just like me. I don't look at
another person to see what they're wearing
and try to put, I put it together myself.
I don't ask for nobody opinion.
Let me see.
You got... No, let me see.
I want some slouch socks, you got slouch socks?
No slouch socks?
No. I said show me. I didn't know they still
had it going on like this. They're still
-cracking though, Mom? -Oh, it's nice.
Get a little sweat suit.
We used come here--
How often do we come here, Mom?
-Every other weekend. -Yeah.
At least every other weekend. We couldn't come all the time.
We had to make sure we could afford it,
before we come here and get everything.
My mom's greatest impact on me that she has
when I was younger until now is...
being very level-headed
through all the chaos.
Check it out, check it out.
SHANNON: It's where they got the t-shirt set.
RUSSELL: Oh, right here.
We shopped here so many times and I've gotten school clothes,
jerseys, hats, beanies, socks, drawers.
Oh yeah. That's what I need.
Hello.
She always kept everything together
and a lot of stuff, I don't know.
And a lot of stuff I've learned as I've gotten older,
of taking me to school, taking my brother to school,
picking my dad up from work, then going to work,
doing different things.
There's so much going on.
I could never tell that that was happening.
And that's something that I
can always reference to when I feel like
there's something, I have so much going on.
I have this, that and the other.
-Haha. -This is it.
Hold on Keith, I got action.
These sweats, extra large in gray?
Because I haven't been here so long.
Just like a kid in the candy store running around,
just trying to grab everything that I can.
Oh yeah. I know the beanie.
How you doing?
Two for five, or $3 each.
Oh, my.
She was always the one that kept me in the loop of--
of fashion, always kept me trendy.
Always making sure that whatever that
we could afford, she would make sure that I had.
How much for Lysol?
[indistinct response]
Oh, okay. Thank you.
And just keep going as you go around. Huh?
How much for Lysol?
[indistinct]
Bargain shopping is the best.
My mom always taught me that.
Just understanding where you don't have to buy everything
at a high price, but also you can bargain and still be fresh.
I might go to the high end stores every now and then.
Mostly he's like, "Mommy, you want to go there?"
"Yeah, we can go."
If I see something, he going to buy it.
I'm like, okay, we're going to buy it. I'll take it.
I told Ray, we going to go to the Wienerschnitzel after this.
I don't know. Is it still over there?
You done got three for three.
There's these Michael Jordan shoes
that came out, Jordan 9's.
My mom stood in line for hours and hours
to make sure that I had these shoes.
And to me that was...
something I would never forget
because it wasn't about the shoes. It was more about,
she knew that I had an interest
in fashion and understanding about
the world of fashion, understanding
this is something that I was passionate about.
I got to a point in my career where
I was playing
at a high level and playing at a level where
Jordan and MJ recognized that.
And the brand came to me like, "Listen,
we want to give you your own signature basketball shoe."
I'm like, "Whoa, wait."
And I'm like, "Damn, this is crazy."
Now this is a different level.
I remember having that meeting
at my agent's office at the time.
And I remember everybody just kind of...
clearing out the room.
And I remember sitting there just like this, just like damn.
My own basketball shoe, that's crazy.
I remember getting the boxes.
Whoosh! One big delivery. I'm like, wow.
I remember going through every single box.
Like, what are these? Damn, what is this?
What is this? What is this?
Crying just by myself, because
I just remember the struggle my parents had to endure.
I'm literally thinking like, damn,
this is a blessing on many levels, but, like...
I was like, I ain't going to mess this up.
[static rustling]
ANNOUNCER: Congratulations, Kevin.
You've had a great run and hope it continues for you
in the NBA finals.
Here are your Western Conference Champions
heading to the NBA finals, The Oklahoma City Thunders.
That season was unbelievable, man.
We was really connected on so many levels.
We all in, we want to win a championship
regardless of stats, regardless of the numbers,
regardless of the accolades, we want to win a championship.
And we feel like we have enough in this room to do it.
And the rise to the finals was quick.
FAN: Are you ready for the NBA finals?
-[all cheering] -And in the finals against
the LeBron and Bosch and Wade another team
with experience that was ready to win.
A Miami team that's just lost in the finals last year.
And they get to the finals again,
we got home court advantage.
ANNOUNCER: The Chesapeake Energy Arena is alive,
as these fans are delirious about their thunder.
We was young, it was a sense of like arrogancy, but confident.
But also we know we got this room
and we never really care who the matchup was.
ANNOUNCER: Westbrook season opening. Westbrook.
Splits plus hand, he touched the net and a foul.
Ties the game with 16.4 to play here on the third.
One game won and felt like
we got a really good shot to win this.
ANNOUNCER: Russell Westbrook was magnificent,
burning with a triple double.
Us winning the first game was the worst thing
that happened to us.
OKC swarm them,
once they get going,
the other team gets back on their heels
and OKC just keeps coming at you.
There's about three days before the next game.
And there's a whole three days, two days,
all you hear the media talking about is...
A lot of Durant, a lot of Westbrook,
a lot of second half.
Durant and Westbrook went sonic boom
on the Heat all by themselves.
The Thunder, Heat, Thunder, Heat.
Why did the Heat struggle to contain
Russell Westbrook so much?
He can do it off the dribble.
He's an explosive athlete, and he never lacks for confidence.
I remember being at home and I'm like mentally,
I got to turn this shit off, because...
every media person across the world is talking about
how this young team can beat a LeBron James and the Heat
and Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
The Thunder, not the Heat are the favorites in these finals.
That started to seep into our locker room.
Like, damn, okay.
We got to fight through this.
We got to fight this temptation and not letting this seep in
because they were a hungry team and they didn't want
to get back to the finals and lose again.
Especially to some young guns that just got here.
And... we was feeling ourself too much.
COMMENTATOR: The Heat have come out
with a vengeance here on the first quarter.
A 17-point lead.
I believe that it made the Heat more aggressive
and also believe it made us...
relax and felt like we had things under control,
which we clearly didn't.
COMMENTATOR: Westbrook. It's inside, back to Perkins,
mishandles it.
Ibaka tried to get it, Wade takes it away
and throws it down.
Pull up jumper from Westbrook rattles in and out.
Westbrook dives again, gets inside, missed it.
And he's off to a tough start shooting the ball.
They came and beat us the second game on our court.
And I knew going to Miami going to be difficult.
We were young and we were in Miami.
A lot going on in the city,
a lot going on outside of the basketball court
that can distract us.
COMMENTATOR: A devastating defeat for Oklahoma City.
Now it's two one.
Third straight game,
hanging in the balance in the final minute.
And Battier knocks it away and they foul Chalmers.
Why are they fouling?
A poor decision from Russell Westbrook.
And now they'll be facing elimination on the road.
They had a lot of experienced guys that played in
many deep playoff games, we didn't.
And I think that's where
they kind of had their advantage over us.
Now, boom, they're celebrating on the quarter, final's over.
COMMENTATOR: It's a bitter disappointment,
but they had a remarkable run.
And it happened that fast, like damn, it happened so quick.
I was very disappointed in Russell Westbrook.
That was the worst point guard
in a championship finals I've ever seen.
That was difficult to take for many reasons because
Magic was a player that I...
Somebody, I kind of looked up to at the time.
One of my favorite players at the time.
And I was like, okay.
Darren Collison I can't imagine as a player you see one of
the best point guards to ever play the game, if not the best.
Imagine them making a comment on your game.
I mean, you could feel really low,
especially in the biggest stage of the NBA, the finals.
For my parents, for people that look up to me,
for people around the world, that's listening,
because it's Magic Johnson,
people take what he say seriously.
The worst point guard
in a championship finals I've ever seen.
And for me, I'm like...
bullshit. Did I play bad?
There's a possibility I could've played bad.
MAGIC JOHNSON: He was too wild.
He was taking off balance shots.
I believe that the stage that we were on
kind of magnified my play, magnified the mistakes I made.
Got to come out and set the tone with Kevin Durant.
He's learning this stuff in the most pressure filled moments.
And when the stakes are at the highest,
when everybody's watching on TV
and then the next day everyone's talking about it
all day to fill the space of the talk shows all day long.
Second half, James Harden who was on had two shots.
Kevin Durant couldn't find the ball.
You're Russell Westbrook,
you're averaging 27 points in the NBA finals.
But my concern is
that's what that seems to be what he's most concerned about.
I just think there was a lot of things
that were said about him that was just unfair.
The level of selfishness
that I saw in game two last night
was so alarming.
Said a little bit about who I was.
Russell Westbrook has a huge ego and a small basketball IQ.
They were disrespecting...
me, disrespecting our family.
He is egregious. He is unconscionable.
He is unconstitutional.
He is asinine, ten, eleven and twelve.
They raised me. They know who I am.
But this is the biggest stage in sports.
People watch the finals all across the world.
And they're hearing these things said about their son.
It completely put me in a place of rage.
Now, are you upset with something?
You shouldn't be upset.
I just don't like you.
-You don't? -No.
Every day there's something new about me.
It's like the good looking girl,
nasty personality.
She'll say anything.
She'll do anything.
But she looks good.
The big media narrative was probably just
not a pure point guard.
He'd take a lot of shots. He's got Kevin on his team.
And if a game where Kevin didn't get enough shots
and Russ took a bunch of shots
and we lost, it would be,
he's shooting too much, he's not passing.
Those type of things.
These dynamic point guards,
they got to give the ball up.
Westbrook doesn't.
The media's like, no, because you're a point guard,
you can't take over the game.
You have to make this play
and you have to give it to this player.
What do you say to people who question
whether or not they say a point guard
is supposed to be passing the ball.
This guy shouldn't be shooting more than you in any game.
The narrative was like, you take away from Kevin.
And regardless of what that takeaway may be,
whether it's you're doing good, you're doing bad.
It was like, no, you shouldn't be doing this.
You should be a prototypical point guard.
He's inflexible.
His personality's inflexible.
His game is inflexible.
A ball-centric, delusional,
undisciplined wreck.
Mentally, it was difficult for me.
I would go home and...
figure out like, man, am I tripping?
Is it my fault?
Because I don't want to be the reason why
somebody don't feel like they can get
the best out themselves because of something I was doing.
I don't know what the media is doing out here,
but everybody needs to just lay off Russell.
Yeah, that's a bad little dude, man.
He's got the same type of dog that I had in me.
I remember the conversations of,
if I was a ball-hog, I wasn't passing.
I was like, okay,
well, I'm going to lead the league in assists.
So I do that again, and again, and again.
COMMENTATOR: Russell continues to pileup those assists.
That's not a thing anymore.
It's like, okay, well...
I'm going to show you that I'm the best...
rebounding guard ever.
COMMENTATOR: There's not a better rebounding guard
in the league.
Shocker there, it's Westbrook.
Just because I played the game like nobody else
and leave it on the line with passion
and aggression and energy,
don't mean that...
I'm a bad teammate, or I'm selfish,
or I'm not a good guy, or uncoachable.
And it was getting so crazy because
the fans started listening.
I hear the boo's for Westbrook.
This is what we came to see right here.
I was getting booed in every arena.
And I just say, I'm done.
I'm done talking about it. I'm done entertaining it.
So next time when the media asks me, they will get...
B.S. answers from me.
Did you guys lose this game or did the Jazz win this one?
What?
I need to strip.
Because I'm not about to even involve myself in
no dumb stuff like that. But next question, man.
Part of a basketball player's job is to
answer questions at the press conference.
It's not between me and you. Next question.
-It's a legitimate question. -Next question.
To do this on a day to day basis.
Next question, next. To this guy.
To me is a little selfish, a little childish as well.
Next question. Next question.
Next question.
No more questions for you, bro.
Could I handle it differently with the media?
Probably, so.
Do I regret some of the things, how I handled it?
Maybe some of them, but most of the time
I didn't talk to them, or I gave them...
attitude because
I was very aware of the things that was being said.
He's intense on the court.
When he feels a like he's being attacked he's intense.
If someone was on TV, talking crazy about him
the night before, and he sees him in real life the next day,
and they ask him a question, like everything is all good.
He's not going to answer like everything's all good.
We heard you, we saw you.
And then he gets painted the bad guy
because he's not okay with
people trashing him on TV.
It was a turning point.
It made me think about, okay, I got a lot of things to prove.
Russell Westbrook presenting his first reading room
for Oklahoma City public schools.
There we go. There we go. There we go.
Magic.
Russell has a polarizing personality.
On one end he's dancing, the other end he's angry.
But he gets totally misunderstood about who he is.
So what you want?
Let me see. No, don't just pick anything.
What you like to read?
Oh, this is Lego Star Wars.
Let me see.
His personality may be misunderstood at times
with the attitude he may have in the media,
because they may have rubbed him the wrong way
by saying something that he didn't appreciate.
But no, Russell's not like that outside of basketball.
You're going to read it? You sure?
Okay. Now you got to keep it and take it home.
It's your first book. So you got to get it
and come back and get another one.
I never jumped about being in this position.
Never jumped about being in the NBA,
but I understand that me being in this position
allows me to be able to connect
and reach so many people across the world.
And my parents always told me to be humbled
and be thankful and be gracious of what you have,
but also remember where you come from.
And I think that's a huge part of just how I operate.
I was in the same position as some of these kids
and I grew up in the Boys and Girls Club.
Now I'm just honor to blessed for be in a position I am now
to be able to give back and do something like this
for different families and kids.
You never know who's watching,
something that my dad always taught me.
Could have been that kid that grew up in the hood
of Oklahoma City and had one ticket
in that particular night, if I didn't bring it
and I feel like I was letting that kid down.
Fuel me to constantly bring what I had every day,
fueled me to be able to make sure that I left the game
changing somebody's perspective of me.
Hello, hello, hello everyone.
How you guys doing?
I want to thank Edwards Elementary School.
Thank you for letting me open my fourth Reading Room
here in Oklahoma City.
[cheering]
A lot of people give money, but I want to be the guy that
you can touch, you can relate to,
a guy that you can understand.
Get one. We won't going to give you nothing, homie.
God has giving me a special gift to be able to...
hold a lot of weight and do a lot of different things
and have my hands in so many different things.
I feel like He...
put this on me, it's 'cause he knows I can handle it.
The school, the organization
has really stepped up and reached out to families.
So many grants for families that weren't working.
-Mm-hmm. -The organization was
helping with that. And they still need supplies.
They still need things.
He will literally be upset because he feels like he's not
doing enough all the time.
And I think it's the weirdest, craziest thing.
I'm like, you're doing plenty, just chill.
The Community Assist Award really goes to that player
who really gives back to the community
and cares about the community.
And there hasn't been a player more representative of that,
than Russell this year.
I'm in a process of sealing and dealing,
sealing and dealing, wheeling and dealing.
There's not one day I wake up and be like, damn,
I got too much to do. I got too many people...
in my ear, I got too much going on.
Because...
I know that I'm the person that's
supposed to take care of it.
[static rustling]
COMMENTATOR: For the second time in three years,
and the fourth time in the past six,
the Thunder in the Western Conference finals.
13 at Oklahoma city takes on record-setting
73-win defending NBA champion, Golden State.
We had gone to the finals in '12
and I think we thought we would be back.
We didn't get there in '13. We didn't get there in '14.
Everybody was hurt in '15.
We didn't have appreciate for how hard that was
going to be to get back.
And so I think we cherished that opportunity
a lot more than we did the first time.
COMMENTATOR: Loser of two consecutive games,
Oklahoma city summons all it has for game seven
on the road tonight.
There's a short amount of time in your career
where you have a chance to win a championship.
[cheering]
It's not something that you wake up
and you're like, oh yeah,
I'm great, so I'm a winning championship.
No, it doesn't work that way.
Number one, you got to stay healthy.
You got to have a good team.
You got to have a good organization.
Good coaching. You got to be lucky.
It's a lot of things that have
to go your way to be able to win.
COMMENTATOR: He fires!
[cheering]
COMMENTATOR: That's the score here at [indistinct] Arena.
I'm pissed. I'm livid.
I felt like...
we let that opportunity slip away.
And that to me was the...
biggest, just, kind of upsetting thing about it,
which really pissed me off.
And I was just like...
if we have the same team, we can do it again.
Anthony Slader with Oklahoma. Kevin, you know,
the loss is still fresh, but you have kind of
an unknown future coming over the next month.
How do you expect that to play out?
And when you'll start thinking about it.
I mean, it's, we just lost like 30 minutes ago.
Myself and Kevin had a unique situation,
because Kevin was really, really good early.
I wasn't that great.
Kevin was always getting better,
and getting better, getting better.
My evolution happened pretty quickly
to where we never was equal,
but we were pretty damn close
of being able to hold our own and run the organization
and to do things that can change the game.
A very active Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook,
obviously in disagreement.
They both...
were trying to establish who they were in this league.
And there were times where late in games,
one guy wants the shot, the other one gets the shot.
But I think there was always a respect and an understanding.
Internally we would try to figure out how to
make each other better, how to evolve.
KEVIN DURANT: There's times where Russell comes to me
on the court and gets in my face and tells me,
you should have shot the ball,
you should have passed the ball.
Stuff like that.
And as a player and as a person that wants to get better,
I can't always be defensive about it.
I got to be a guy that's willing to learn.
We talk all the time as teammates.
Was able to get some things off our chest about each other,
which I think was very beneficial because
it allowed us to see some of the things
that he didn't like about myself.
It allowed me to see some things I didn't like about him.
Kevin Durant Russell was a guy that's aggressive forward.
So he has a chip on his shoulder, like everybody says,
and people think that's hurting me as a player.
And I think I've gotten better, actually.
I don't see what the problem is.
I enjoy playing with Russell.
We've grown to be like brothers.
And that's the best thing about it.
Coming to work with your brother.
We had it pretty damn packed,
because nobody could stop from what we were doing
for many years.
But the outside noise of people, the media,
creates a problem.
If you're not strong mentally to be able to withstand it.
I feel sorry for Kevin Durant,
he is stuck with Russell Westbrook.
This team will never win a championship
with Russell Westbrook as the primary decision maker.
The news again, coming in moments ago,
Kevin Durant heading to the Golden State Warriors.
He didn't feel he could win a championship
with Russell Westbrook.
I can't play an entire career with a guy
who thinks he's better than me, when he's clearly not.
I start laughing instantly.
I'm like this can't be true.
It's like, no.
No way he would go to that team, they just beat us.
Did the fact that not only Kevin left,
but it was to Golden State, did that make it sting even more?
Sting for who?
It was already conversations of
if I was good enough,
or if I can hold my own team, or if I could...
do things alone without Kevin.
You better have hope in OKC,
Westbrook continues to pass more than shoot,
and they can get past the first round.
I'll be lying to say that
it didn't affect me, didn't affect...
my thought process.
It did. It made me...
pissed off.
It made me more...
competitive, made me want to go out and...
and do things that nobody's ever seen,
that been done before.
His pride.
His pride as a superstar.
That's where he getting that from.
He came back like, I'm the face of this organization now,
and I need to lead this team.
It was an opportunity to go, be all he could be on the court.
COMMENTATOR: Here's Westbrook
racing up the court, coast to coast.
And he throws it down.
[cheering]
That's rude, folks.
Oh, do you believe that guy?
It's just sick.
I had so much... built up rage and, like,
every opportunity I had to go out
and do whatever I need to do,
I would make sure that it was done in a way that
people would be like, damn, why are you so mad?
Russell was not going to let anybody
take his head off without him going down swinging.
And that's just his mentality.
It's almost like a character flaw.
KEVIN LOVE: He's always looking for the smallest slight
to get to that next level.
COMMENTATOR: Westbrook sees an opening and throws it down.
Russell will hold onto something from five years ago
and still let it trigger his competitive nature to this day.
COMMENTATOR: Jail break. What a pass, what a pass.
He nutmegged Corey Joseph--
He had so many big shots that year.
COMMENTATOR: Back out, Westbrook.
Russell Westbrook!
The triple double thing was fun.
Seeing those every single night.
COMMENTATOR: Rebound deflected. Taken by Westbrook.
Throws ahead. What a pass to Oladipo.
And a triple double for Russell Westbrook.
What a year he's having.
No thanks, but... To the man above, man.
So thankful to be able to play the game I love.
And I was happy we got the win.
I was just doing what I had to do for us to win.
That's really how I felt.
The game always will tell me what to do.
And If it's passing, then it's passing.
If it's rebound, then it gets rebounded.
If you're scoring, then it's that.
If it's all three, then you need to do all three.
COMMENTATOR: Westbrook with the rebound.
Here we go.
Russell driving, Russell scoring!
Westbrook with the triple double.
20 triple doubles for Westbrook.
Three in a row.
Do you think you he can maintain
this triple double average for the entire season?
I think if he puts his mind to it, yes.
You know, for so many years we talked about him.
He's doing too much. He's doing this.
So now for the first year
he's getting everybody involved,
making his teammates better,
and he is playing beautiful basketball.
I get to triple double about, you know, 35, 36.
The road crowds and home crowds,
they start keeping count.
So now it becomes a thing.
And it's hard to not think about it
because people are talking about it all the time.
Russell is in Russell heaven without Kevin Durant.
And never seen anything like it.
This is your seventh straight triple double.
Number 41 on this season.
You're now 16 assists from averaging a triple double.
This is the MVP!
I've been so long of people booing me
and talking crazy to me.
And I was in shock because
every arena was cheering for me.
I ain't used to none of this.
COMMENTATOR: And another three Westbrook.
Why not? Why not?
And the running man, Russell Westbrook.
We're watching something that hasn't happened since 1962.
The triple double has been folklore forever.
I hate betting against the guy because every time I say,
well, he's not going to do it, he's doing it.
But it's got to catch up with him at some point.
I remember everybody, my mom, dad,
wife was like,
this is not sustainable.
But in my mind, I was like, I'm crazy.
My mind made up that...
it ain't nothing going to stop
me from what's about to happen.
COMMENTATOR: Thunders out of time outs.
Adams gives it back to Russ.
He shot it. Get it!
[cheering]
What a perfect ending to a historic day.
Russell Westbrook
stands with one of the greatest in NBA history.
KEVIN DURANT: I got to give a huge shout out, man,
to the Brody, man, Russell Westbrook,
man, on his historical season, man.
It's just certain things that you never think
you going to see or never think that's going to be broken.
ANNOUNCER: The only other player
to ever take triple double in a season,
please give a warm Oklahoma welcome to Lester Robertson.
It kind of hit me like, this is history, not just for me,
but this is way bigger than even myself.
I think that what he has done has been historic in nature.
He's played with passion and pride.
I only have one more thing to say. MVP!
[crowd cheering]
And the winner of the 2017 NBA
Most Valuable Player award is...
Russell Westbrook.
[applause]
It was a special year, just overall,
because I truly felt accomplished.
I want to thank my family. Without you guys,
I don't know where I would be. Your support, your sacrifice,
everything you guys have done for me.
I told myself I ain't going to cry, but...
[applause]
We didn't win the championship, no.
We didn't get out the first round, no. But...
to be able to share with my family
and my teammates and
show my support to the city of Oklahoma, felt like...
we proved a lot of people wrong.
And well, our point was made.
I'm very, very thankful and a blessed man to go out
and compete, man. And like I've said many, many times.
So, I don't take this game for granted.
I don't take going on the floor and competing for granted.
And God got something planned for me, man,
nobody can stop it. I always continue to follow His faith
and stay faithful and just stay strong
and continue to do what I'm doing.
Nothing in my life would be possible.
The things I'm able to accomplish
wouldn't be possible.
Me sitting here talking wouldn't be possible. Me...
doing things to help other people,
having a platform wouldn't be possible
without me having faith in God.
That's the most important thing about this entire journey.
COMMENTATOR: Here it is.
20, 20, 20 game.
First time since 1968.
That's for his God. He really hustle.
It allows me to go and do things on the court,
off the court, play with a passion, play with the edge,
play with a sense of really not caring what happens
because I know win, lose, or draw
that I'm covered by the man above,
regardless of any result.
COMMENTATOR: Spins. Kicks Adams. Another slam.
We just watched history here.
Is he the king of the triple double?
-Of this generation, yes. -Of this. Okay...
But when you talk about the king of triple doubles,
there's three guys ahead of him. Jason Kidd being
the next guy in line, then Magic Johnson.
-Buck, buck. -And then the big O.
Russell Westbrook could never be the king of the triple
double, because the king put up a score that was so high
that nobody could take it down.
[static]
[muffled chatter]
[cameras clicking]
And I'm pleased to welcome Russell Westbrook
and his wonderful family to Houston.
He plays with an energy, a passion,
a will to win that I think
is really unparalleled in the league.
To have that on our bench now is incredible.
JOURNALIST: So Russell, what can you say that
those of us have only seen you as an opponent don't know
about you? Something that you'd like for people to know.
That I'm a nice guy.
[man chuckling]
COMMENTATOR: There's a little fatigue with Russell
in the triple double. Once he did it, Skip,
the luster has gone away. Well, I don't know why,
why are you getting numb to it? Because who's doing it?
I was getting to a point where I was like, man, you know,
it's getting difficult.
You felt like he was having to fight
public perception inside of his own home, basically.
I think he went from Mr. Triple Double
to Mr. Nothing but Trouble.
The fans got in his head,
the press got in his head.
He's got to get it together.
I was feeling like it was starting to control
who I was becoming as a person,
how I was playing.
And I wasn't in a space mentally,
to continue in Oklahoma city.
You want me to tell you what I normally tell you?
What? That I got my chest out?
Why do you got your titties all out?
Well, because if you're not, you got to show.
I'm going to show my date. Okay, okay.
Don't start.
It's like the first day of school.
I know!
You look good, Russell.
[speaking indistinctly]
Okay, okay.
You got your ratchet brown lunch bag.
[laughing]
I got my lunch bag. I'm ready.
Go give Momma a kiss.
[laughing]
[sneakers squeaking]
I'mma always have faith in whatever is happening,
because we all got put on this Earth
for a particular reason.
And it's not just a easy ride.
When you're able to be yourself and be who you are,
everything else will fall in place.
REPORTER: China has more than 200 confirmed cases
of Coronavirus, it's called,
which produces pneumonia-like symptoms.
SECOND REPORTER: The mysterious virus now reaching Europe,
with confirmed cases in France and nine other countries.
It's going to disappear one day. It's like a miracle.
It will disappear.
Coronavirus officially hitting the US.
World Health Organization has officially declared a pandemic.
Alarming news tonight about the coronavirus,
devastating at every level.
REPORTER: A sudden jump in infections.
Tragic new numbers on the pandemic.
One million deaths.
-The virus raging. -Morgues overflow.
It's time to cancel everything.
-Stay at home. -Stay at home.
REPORTER: Stay at home, lock yourself inside
and don't come out.
[dramatic music]
[static]
[child babbling]
It's a lot of cars.
Yeah, you got a lot of cars.
Daddy got a lot of cars too.
Daddy do got a lot of cars too.
We got the same thing in common.
The first thing you think about is
make sure my family was fine.
My mom, my dad, brother, my wife, kids,
and making sure that they were... fine
and making sure that they were okay,
and they had everything that they need
moving forward, because I felt like it was going
to get very, very serious where
you may not be able to leave the house.
Taking you out this seat.
-What do you want me to do? -To push you.
You got to use your muscles if
you want to get me out the seat. One.
Not playing for three months, actually personally,
I like it. I like to rest. I think resting and being able
to sit back and gather my thoughts. Get healthy.
Hang with the family.
I don't mind it one bit.
What's wrong with you?
Tired?
I'm more happy than they are.
[yelling]
What's my name?
-Dada. -There you go.
To my family, I'm just Russell. I'm the guy that,
you know, loving, caring.
I want to make sure my family is good.
Make sure my friends is good. Make sure the people around me,
my close ones are taken care of.
And that's all that really matters to me.
Russell's very much a routine person.
But with kids you can't really have too much of a routine,
depending on how present you want to be.
And Russell wants to be very present.
So he shifted everything.
It's like, okay, so now I have to do what's best
for the kids and the family.
You go pee pee in the potty?
Pee pee in the...
Good job, Jo-Jo. My daughters has taught me how to love more.
As a father, when you have girls,
I think it's just natural.
Cash! I just made it.
You got to get the rebound.
And my son has taught me patience on all levels.
Both arms.
-[yells] -You'll be all right.
Did you let him go by himself?
Um, um...
No, no. He didn't go by himself.
INTERVIEWER: His life's going to be very different
than yours growing up. Do you think about that?
All the time,
but I think about it in a positive way.
Woohoo!
-I did it. -You did it, buddy.
The different things that my dad went through,
he didn't want to see me go through.
I've been blessed and thankful do be in this position
and have the means to be able to do the things
that I want to do. My job is to make sure,
and my wife's job is to make sure, that we...
raise our kids the best way that we can raise them
and make sure they understand
that this wasn't just given to us, it was--
you had to work for it and make sure they understand that.
Basketball, it's going to be a short time in my life,
but during that short time I'd like to take advantage
of each and every opportunity that's given to me.
[music shuffling]
[hip hop music]
[pinball dropping]
Oh, you better move
You better move, you better move
Come on!
[Indistinct].
Being at home and resting and hanging out, that's my jam.
For Russell, I don't think he realizes
how much it's not his.
I think he enjoys spending time with us
and the kids and his family,
but I could see him getting antsy and ready to work out
and started picking up how many times a day he was working out,
and so I think that he's really happy now.
No, you can't cuff me, baby let me loose
The way that I live, baby, that's a ruse
When I'm at home, I don't have to pound my chest,
jump up and down and scream,
I can turn it down a little bit.
But at the same time, I still have my edge.
[sneakers squeaking]
I won!
And basketball, you're able to express and scream and yell.
All these emotions come up.
He's just on a hundred all the time when he's on the floor.
He just becomes that larger than life personality
and character, and that escape allows him to have
all that energy there on the court
Finished. Fuck you.
In my early years in Oklahoma City, I had so much going on.
All this shit is happening in your brain and around you.
I had to figure out how to channel it.
Had to figure out how to use it.
REPORTER: There is so much unknown here for these players.
COMMENTATOR: I think as far as the racial injustice,
I think that's where a lot of the struggle is
for a lot of athletes, and a lot of our hearts
are with our people.
No justice, no peace!
Listen, it's not an ideal situation.
We're trying to find a way to our own normal
in the middle of a pandemic,
and now with enormous social unrest.
Really what's being asked of these players now,
help us get back to the normal that we've enjoyed,
largely at your expense.
As we work through these issues,
I can understand how some players may feel
that it's not for them.
I mean, it will entail enormous sacrifice.
[ball bouncing]
Hey!
REPORTER: The NBA season is set to resume July 31st
in Orlando, Florida. Unfortunate timing.
COVID-19 cases continue to mount
in the state of Florida at an alarming rate.
[lights click]
I was used to him leaving every couple of days
and then coming back,
but I'm definitely not excited about him being gone
for the remainder of the season.
I think it's crazy, actually, and I'm not as supportive.
But I don't want to further upset him,
so I voice my opinions sparingly,
because I already know it's hard for him, so.
I want to go on the airplane too.
I wanna come after breakfast.
I know. You can't come with me this time, buddy.
Daddy got to go play basketball.
You can watch me on TV.
I have no idea what's going to happen.
I'm nervous about COVID.
I'm nervous about how
you know, all the guys are gonna just be gone for so long.
Noah, you want to take a break?
Come give daddy a hug before I go bye-bye?
-Yeah. -Okay.
Big squeeze. Big squeeze.
[inaudible]
I want a big squeeze, that's why. Can I get a big squeeze?
[baby crying]
[kids crying]
I'll miss you. I love you.
Sugar, are you ready?
Yeah.
Are you excited?
Am I excited to do what?
NINA: To see all your teammates.
I'm gonna be with them for three months.
NINA: So, you're not excited to see them?
I don't mind seeing them, but, you know, I'm not like...
jumping up and down, and shit.
You're not very excited.
Just a little excited.
I feel like we were forced to grow up very quickly,
so a lot of the things that most people might not
think about or worry about at age 19,
we had to think about those things.
Especially Russell.
He's constantly been someone that needed to have boundaries
and have his walls up, so that, in turn, I feel like,
made him shift and change his focus inward
with his close circle.
Are you at least going to miss us?
I know you see us all the time, but...
Go.
-Oh, my gosh. -You drive--
You talk about the people on the freeway, you the one!
Why are you in such a hurry to get rid of me?
Don't you want to cherish our time together?
Depends.
Of course. Of course, I do.
Okay, good. You better change your tone.
Better yet, actually, take your time. No rush.
Thank you. You better change your tone, that's for sure.
My wife, she is, one word...
Selfless.
She's sacrificed more than
anybody that I know because of
the basketball life I'm in.
Hi, I'm here to drop off...
She sacrificed her goals that she wanted to do to be able to
share my dream, and for me,
I never ever take that for granted.
She's my personal driver.
You know what, next time, guess what you're going to do,
you're going to take an Uber.
Clearly I'm better than an Uber.
I can't hear you, the plane is too loud.
Bye.
I want to make it known to her that
her sacrifices are well worth it for our family,
and I want to make sure that I do
everything in my power to make sure that
I'm the best at what I do.
REPORTER: First, how eager are you to get back on the court
with your teammates and get back to playing
after such a long layoff?
RUSSELL: Man, very eager.
I'd be lying if I wouldn't say I was.
[sneakers squeaking]
The thrill I get off competing, to me, it's unmatched.
We live for those moments. We live for them.
There ain't no bigger fan of Russell Westbrook than me.
This dude is an assassin. One of the most violently
competitive basketball players
in the National Basketball Association.
He doesn't cheat you, never with effort
and never with greatness.
Here's the question,
you going to win?
COMMENTATOR: We hold Westbrook to a very high standard,
because we see the talent.
My attitude never changes. It never will.
I'm just playing my ass off
and leaving everything I got on the floor,
not taking a night off, a play off,
not taking a game for granted.
I just go all out.
And I think, for me,
it's become my biggest strength and my biggest weakness,
because at times it could look reckless,
it can look out of control, it can look...
like I don't know what I'm doing.
It can look selfish.
COMMENTATOR: There it is, the pull up.
And Westbrook one for five.
He's taken half of the shots so far.
I think there is consequence sometimes to feeling like,
I can do it alone. I can make the play.
I can be Superman in this moment.
And I think he learned that as his career went on.
COMMENTATOR: Westbrook out of control. Turns it over.
To try to bring that back a little bit has been, I think,
one of the things he's been working on his entire career,
trying to control that level of fire,
and that level of intensity.
But it's hard because when he's in his mindset,
when he's going full steam ahead, he only knows one way.
I think it's a feeling, a mode, that he's got to balance,
right, because in games where
he'll try to get people involved,
he will all of a sudden feel like,
"I'm losing my Russness."
Without that, he's not Russ,
and we're not that team.
There are games where I'm all over the place
and it may not be so good.
COMMENTATOR: That won't go. Westbrook out of control.
Westbrook really struggling. That's another turnover.
But, there are games where I'm all over the place
and it's the best thing that ever happened.
COMMENTATOR: Explosive speed is not diminished.
I have so much pride in wanting to see,
in wanting to be successful, in wanting to be the best,
sometimes it takes control of me,
but it all comes from a great place.
COMMENTATOR: LeBron James and the Lakers one win away from
getting back to the Conference Finals,
as they've won the last three games in this series
and have a 3-1 lead as we get set for game five.
I don't want to come off as like an alkie
or anything like that,
but I know how to make a martini.
COMMENTATOR: The Lakers were so impressive in game four,
the Rockets just the opposite.
It was a disappointing performance.
James Harden only had 21 points.
But another guy that's got to be better is Russell Westbrook.
He's got to be better for this team to survive,
and it starts with tonight.
Even though he's playing, he's a little bit injured,
he doesn't like to talk about it and make it a thing,
because he doesn't like people feeling sorry for him,
or whatever the case may be.
But he's still struggling with that.
I'm just been hoping he can get in a rhythm
and just have fun. I think that's when he's at his best.
COMMENTATOR: The last time Westbrook and James
were in Miami, and they were going into the locker room...
MAN: I knew they was going to bring that up. Got to.
COMMENTATOR: They'll be back. They'll win championships.
The players sometimes are the last ones to understand...
He's still at the peak of his career in the NBA.
Take one game at a time. That's all we can do.
Come on, Russ. Move.
Man.
Russ ain't scoring.
I ain't worried about his scoring.
I'm talking about scoring.
I'm talking about everything, though.
He got to do everything, and he know that.
Just do that other stuff.
You have games like this.
This is the NBA.
If you're not a superstar,
you can't have a game like this.
So he's a superstar player.
He knows how to come back
and bounce back and help his team win.
You gotta do better, homie.
Way better.
Do something, bro.
Basketball is an up and down game. It's about rhythm.
We didn't have enough rhythm,
and my son was a part of that rhythm.
His rhythm was a little off today, so...
I think he's okay.
I just think he just needs to find himself again,
and once he find himself, he'll be okay.
COMMENTATOR: Now the Rockets will just dribble it out
and the Los Angeles Lakers
are back in the Western Conference Finals as they
eliminate the Houston Rockets in five games.
And the final score for tonight's game...
[static]
[light piano music]
MAN: Its being reported that Russ wants out of Houston
because he wants a bigger role.
COMMENTATOR: He's a force of nature,
but he needs the ball and he needs to be the lead dog,
and if he can't be lead dog...
SECOND COMMENTATOR: Russell Westbrook, at times,
is the reason why his team doesn't win.
COMMENTATOR: There's no way he's gonna win a ring.
I'm not even sure what his future in
this league is right now.
COMMENTATOR: I don't see him as a missing piece
of a championship team.
COMMENTATOR: I think he plays in a tunnel that,
"This is what I do and I'm gonna do it
and I'm not gonna change it."
COMMENTATOR: That kind of embrace me personality.
[commentators talking over each other]
RUSSELL: I still play with the same edge, the same rage,
but internally I am at a place of peace because
I understand there are
so many more important things in life.
INTERVIEWER: Do you think you're a better player now
that you have this peace inside of you?
I'm a better person, and that's what's most important to me.
The player is... people are going to scrutinize,
they're going to love, they're going to hate,
but the person is who I'm more concerned with
and that's me being myself.
And there are times where I felt like I was losing that
because I was trying so hard to prove everybody wrong.
And now I'm in a position and a space in my mind
where mentally I don't need to do that.
COMMENTATOR: Let's go through the monster deal
from the NBA last night, the Rockets and the Wizards.
Next time somebody touch my go,
that's going to be their you know what.
Here we go, come on. Now.
Move! Move!
Oh, shit!
[speaking indistinctly]
I'm happy to be back with Coach Brooks.
Him being my, I would say, first second coach,
he kind of seen me grow up in Oklahoma City.
We've always stayed tight.
[crowd cheering]
One thing that I always remember from Coach Brooks that
been sticking with me since...
day one of him taking over
is that we had conversations about
how angry and how intense I was.
[shouting]
How he felt like I was so uptight and wanted to win
so, so bad. He always told me...
to smile. Very simple.
To this day, that's something that I catch myself doing,
just taking a second to, okay, let's just smile a little bit
just to calm my ass down.
COMMENTATOR: This is all improvisation by Russell.
I don't hear any music playing, Kenny.
Obviously he hears a different drummer.
Keeps the game fun, and you always want to make sure
you're having fun while playing.
Obviously, you want to win, you want to compete,
but you want to have fun while doing it.
COMMENTATOR: You look at his numbers, Clyde,
his 151 career triple doubles.
He has five this season with the Wizards.
SECOND COMMENTATOR: The way he's playing right now,
and this run that he's had down the stretch,
he could go for now the record by Oscar Robinson
for the most triple doubles in NBA history.
If anybody says they saw this coming, they're lying.
Ain't nobody saw this coming.
I mean, he makes triple doubles like
it's like a regular stat.
When I had my first triple double,
I think I had my family dinners and parties
and it was like a big thing. You know what I'm saying?
So he does this, like, every single game.
MAN: I'm just glad we didn't go into overtime
because Russell was about to get quadruple double.
Teams are game planning for him every single night
and he's still getting it done, and to do it night in
and night out and average it for a whole season,
and then do it again, and break all time records
and continue to set all time records,
I think it blows a lot of people's minds.
COMMENTATOR: And there it is, Russell Westbrook
has just surpassed Oscar Robertson.
It lasted 47 years,
and now Russell Westbrook stands there all alone.
I mean, 182. I had five.
I had five in my career.
[cheering]
He relentless.
That's it. He relentless.
COMMENTATOR: How do we put him
into some sort of historical perspective?
MAN: You can no longer tell the story of basketball
-without Russel Westbrook. -Without including Russel.
-That's right. -He is Mr. Triple Double,
and that will be his legacy.
Even if he goes on to win a ring,
he will still be more known for averaging a triple double
in four seasons,
than for winning a championship.
It's really hard to win a championship.
I've been to four finals, and we won one. It gets tough.
But I do think legacy-wise,
it means a lot to people,
but it's not what defines Russell Westbrook.
Russell has been able to do things
that are historic in the game of basketball.
And we all teach kids when you play,
how can you impact the game?
And most kids just think, I can impact the game by scoring.
I think there should be more players
that have well-rounded games.
He can definitely leave the game with his head high
and be counted as one of the greatest guards
that ever played. How could you not,
when you're mentioned with Oscar Robinson, right?
That MVP thing, they can't take it away.
Say what they want to about you,
but they cannot take it away.
This ring he give me, this is his first championship ring
in the Olympics. I still wear it every day.
Every day.
Because it reminds me of what he did, how he did it.
MAN: He inspires so many kids who come from
where he comes from.
If he could do it, then I could do it.
We proud of him around here, whether he win one or not.
[city din]
COMMENTATOR: Draft night just got a lot more exciting.
Russell Westbrook is going to be a Laker.
For a Southern California kid, this is a dream come true.
To go back, play for the Lakers,
and now partner up with Anthony Davis and LeBron James.
What do you mean?
Okay, whatever. That's what.
NINA: I'm going to celebrate and it's going to be wild.
INTERVIEWER: You seem kind of in disbelief.
He gets into these zones. It's funny.
When he gets his mind set on something...
Laker Nation need to stand up right now. You know why?
Because they're moving on up like the Jeffersons right now.
I'm telling you.
It's a crazy feeling. I was just trying to figure out...
everything, being back home.
But the only thing I can think about is, like,
growing up in LA, watching the Lakers,
Kobe. That's the first thing that came to mind, honestly.
All those memories and all those things come back to play
and come back full circle. It's just opportunity in itself.
Obviously it's big for everybody else,
but just internally, for myself
and our family, we just very grateful.
It'll be crazy though.
REPORTER: Russell, do you feel like
you have anything to prove?
Uh, no, I don't.
When I got drafted, that was me proving people wrong.
When I was able to go to UCLA from the inner city,
that was me proving people wrong.
Just making it out the hood, was proving people wrong.
I don't need to do that anymore.
He's at a point in his life right now to where
it doesn't even matter
what people think.
No one's perfect.
You're doing a great job. Continue to do it.
For all that's gone on in his life up to this point,
he's still able to maintain not only a sense of peace,
but an understanding of who he is.
Being yourself is the best thing you can do,
because there are so many things
that can be said about you that
you can let take control of your life,
and I feel like when you're authentic,
those things can't bother you.
Things that people say or do doesn't affect you.
What you see is what you get with Russell.
There's no sugar-coating.
There's no gimmicks.
He's not trying to pretend.
He's not trying to please anyone.
This is who he is.
Russell going to play his game how he want to play it,
and the NBA know and all the players know on every team.
There's no time where nobody can see me as like,
"Russ is being...
Russ is being...
Russ." And that's...
how my whole either career and my life is,
because there's really nobody to compare, in my opinion.
You can't really say, "Russ is being like. uh...
Russ," and that's just how I like to keep it.
Cool.
[upbeat music]
Let me apologize to Russell Westbrook, because
in game four he was off the charts. 43 points.
He put on a show.
I see now that he has to play this way, Michael,
for the Thunder to have a chance to win.
So stay with playing that aggressive, offensive game.
He's not a traditional point guard.
Just do your thing, Russell. Don't listen to Magic Johnson.