Former Oklahoma City big man Enes Kanter continues to rave about the qualities of former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook as a teammate.
Kanter is playing for the Boston Celtics in the 2019-20 season, while Westbrook, of course, was traded last offseason to the Houston Rockets. But they clearly formed a bond upon playing portions of three seasons together (2014-15 through 2016-2017) with the Thunder.
Last August, Kanter referred to Westbrook as the “best player” and “best teammate” that he had ever played with. That’s high praise, considering Kanter also played with Kevin Durant and Damian Lillard.
On Tuesday, in an Instagram Live session with ClutchPoints, Kanter doubled down on that assessment of Westbrook. He said:
Russell, man, he’s one special person, on and off the court. I know people might be tough on him sometimes, but he’s an amazing person and an amazing character. People just don’t see the Russell that his teammates see. People always say like ‘Oh, it’s so hard to play with him and everything.’ No. He makes himself better and he makes everyone else better around him.
This guy, he’s got so much edge in him. He will do anything to win. For him, it’s like going to war. He cannot talk to any player he’s playing against. He cannot look at them. He’s all about going out and destroying them.
But at the same time, this dude is like… he eats gummy bears, he drinks Snapple on the plane, he plays [NBA] 2K. He’s a very chill dude. He’s actually a jokester. He makes a lot of jokes, laughs a lot, but people don’t see that side of Russ. But his teammates see it.
Kanter is averaging 8.2 points (56.6% FG) and 7.7 rebounds in 17.5 minutes per game this season with the Celtics (43-21).
In his first season with the Rockets (40-24), the 31-year-old Westbrook is averaging 27.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 7.0 assists.
