Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook has established himself as a fierce competitor that often doesn’t make small talk with the opposition. As a result, he expects the same from his teammates.
Steven Adams enlighted the media on Monday afternoon and let the world in on one of the rules set by Westbrook. Even as his teammate of six seasons, Adams is still trying to learn the code himself.
The policy set forth by Westbrook has been mentioned by former Thunder players in the past. Enes Kanter infamously said on a radio show that Westbrook cussed him out once for talking to an opposing player.
Adams admitted to a learning curve in the rule.
You do not even [give] the nicest look [to an opposing player] or whatever so I did learn that. Spending a lot of time with him, he was getting to know me, like Thabo [Sefolosha], there is an exception there. Maybe Serge [Ibaka]. There are certain ones you can kind of go over and maybe hug, I’m still feeling this out. I might be a tad off here or there so I’m feeling my way out. … I look him off and then see where Russ is looking and go in for a quick hug. No, I wasn’t doing anything, Russ.
For the most part, fans rarely see Westbrook interacting with the opposition. The players he is often friendly toward are former teammates, such as James Harden, Dion Waiters and Ibaka among others.
This season, though, Westbrook has had heated exchanges with several players. He has gone at the likes of Joel Embiid, Damian Lillard, Jamal Murray and Patrick Beverley among others.
With a tough matchup coming up Tuesday night against the Denver Nuggets, it will be interesting to see if Westbrook has more beef with Murray and the rest of the team.
