Love him or hate him, you can never, ever accuse Los Angeles Clippers guard Russell Westbrook of not giving maximum effort every time he steps onto a basketball court.
To Westbrook’s detriment, however, sometimes that effort goes a little overboard and spills off the court.
Case in point, the Clippers stunned the Phoenix Suns in Game 1 of their Western Conference first round playoff series on Sunday.
Westbrook, despite shooting a putrid 3-for-19 from the field (not a single Suns player took more than 19 field goal attempts, to give some context to Westbrook’s inefficiency), still came up with the crucial play of the game in its waning seconds:
WHAT PLAY BY RUSS. MY GOODNESS. 🔒
CLIPPERS LEAD WITH SECONDS LEFT ON TNT pic.twitter.com/SED1SvWHXt
— NBA (@NBA) April 17, 2023
Westbrook blocked Suns All-Star Devin Booker, and while Booker took a brief moment to whine to the referee, Westbrook’s motor didn’t stop, and he kept playing for the ball, eventually saving it by throwing it out of bounds off Booker.
It was the perfect encapsulation of Westbrook’s hustle and Booker’s oft-criticized complaining to referees.
Before that moment, however, there was a different encapsulation of the Westbrook ethos — and it wasn’t a pretty sight.
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To provide some context: As AZ Central noted, as part of a massive $230 million renovation project for the Footprint Center, the Club River Gila lounge area has become something of a “shortcut” for visiting road players.
It’s in this lounge that Westbrook encountered a Suns fan, and things took a dour turn:
WARNING: The following video clip contains language the viewer may find offensive.
“Watch your mouth motherf**ker”
Russell Westbrook to a Suns fan tonight: pic.twitter.com/EptuScWxjI
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) April 17, 2023
It’s not clear what exactly preceded the clip, but in it, you see Westbrook confront a fan sitting in the lounge area.
“Calm down bro,” the fan can be heard saying. “Take it like a man.”
Westbrook’s response: “Watch your mouth, motherf***er. Watch your mouth.”
What triggered this response? Apparently, it involved an old, less-than-flattering nickname for Westbrook — at least according to FanDuel’s Eddie Gonzalez, who claimed to be “right there” at the time of the incident.
I was right there… Dude called Russ westbrick. And yeah….
0 got the last laugh on the court too
— Eddie Gonzalez (@bansky) April 17, 2023
Gonzalez claimed that the fan called Westbrook “Westbrick” (for the unfamiliar, a “brick” is basketball slang for a missed shot).
That nickname has been something of a sore spot for Clippers guard, dating back to when he first went to Los Angeles — but as a Laker. Many have attributed that nickname to Los Angeles-based sports pundit Skip Bayless, easily one of Westbrook’s harshest media critics.
“When it comes to basketball, I don’t mind the criticism of missing and making shots,” Westbrook told reporters in 2022, per ESPN. “But the moment it becomes where my name is getting shamed, it becomes an issue.
“I’ve kind of let it go in the past because it never really bothered me. But it really kind of hit me the other day. Me and my wife were at teacher-parent conferences for my son. And the teacher told me, ‘Noah, he’s so proud of his last name. He writes it everywhere. He writes it on everything. He tells everybody and walks around and says, “I’m Westbrook.”‘ … And I kind of sat there in shock, and it hit me, like, ‘Damn. I can no longer allow people [to besmirch my name].’”
“Wesbtrick” is obviously a pejorative play on his last name, and that was apparently what set off the former league MVP on Sunday.
As for the fan in question, the Suns released a statement, per Suns reporter Duane Rankin:
#Suns statement on Russell Westbrook/#Suns fan reaction:
“We are aware of the incident that happened tonight and are conducting a review.”
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) April 17, 2023
“We are aware of the incident that happened tonight and are conducting a review.”
It’s not clear if this is the same person, but many on social media think the Suns fan that got into a confrontation with Westbrook is the same Suns fans who became something of an internet meme by counting his cash every time Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo took free throws in the 2021 NBA Finals.
A Suns fans is counting $100s during Giannis’ free throws 😆💵 pic.twitter.com/4Ff00nRkBl
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 18, 2021
The Suns and Clippers will reconvene for Game 2 on Tuesday in Phoenix, before the series shifts to Los Angeles for Games 3 and 4.
