Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook had had his fair share of run-ins with various reporters over the years and he had yet another interesting interaction with a reporter on Saturday night.
Following a 116-102 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, Westbrook held his media availability with a pool of reporters. The interview started off fairly normal as Westbrook seemed to be in the mood to talk before it took an awkward turn.
A snippet of the exchange:
Reporter: How does [it] change when Paul’s not on the floor when those teams pack the paint and you’re getting guys wide open shots but Paul is not out there?
Westbrook: I’m confused. What are you asking? Just ask the question you are asking.
Reporter: How does the offense change when Paul is not on the floor but teams are also packing the paint as well?
Westbrook: Next question.
Reporter: How does the offense change when Paul is not on the floor?
Westbrook: A lot, obviously. The MVP is not out on the floor. He’s averaging 30 points a game. It changes the offense a lot. You knew the answer to that question. You just wanted to ask to get that answer.
Westbrook: I asked you a question. You knew the answer to that question, right?
Reporter: I think sometimes we ask questions but we want to hear the answer from you.
Westbrook has had some moments this season with reporters. He will typically provide some insightful answers to those in the media that he respects and will often avoid answering questions from those that he doesn’t respect.
Prior to that portion of the interview, Westbrook was asked a previous question about teams that pack the paint on defense to prevent easy layup attempts at the basket. Westbrook believed it is a good strategy but if that happens, the team should have open looks from deep and that is something he’ll live with every day.
The Thunder shot 45.5 percent from the field and went just 7-of-29 (24.1 percent) from 3-point range and were unable to take advantage of those open looks created.
The team will look to get back on track Sunday at home against the Memphis Grizzlies.
