Surely, this is how it went down in the old days between star NBA rivals. Now, you have players swapping jerseys after games and hanging out with the opponent.
Therefore, after the Houston Rockets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night; when Russell Westbrook said what he said I admired it.
First, he unleashed a 21-point, 12-rebound, 9-assist game to down the Warriors 116-112. Of course, all of this came after Westbrook failed to score in the first quarter. However, things changed and Westbrook led his new team to a win over his old team and friend Steven Adams.
Russell Westbrook: “During the game … if you try to be my friend, I ain’t going to say shit to you.” pic.twitter.com/YZNJdy9Bkd
— Maddie Lee (@maddie_m_lee) October 29, 2019
Then, he said the following. The man needs no friends, only Spalding. Especially when he’s on the court, absolutely zero friendship is granted.
“This is how it goes: When I hoop, I have no friends,” Westbrook said. “On the court, they know not to talk to me. Steven is a real close friend of mine, but inside those lines, there’s no friends. Spalding, that’s my friend, and my teammates, but that’s it. Before the game, after the game, I’ll talk to my guys. That doesn’t mean I don’t have friends, but during the game, I don’t. If you try to talk to me, I ain’t going to say s— to you.”
Now this is a nice change of pace to the usual hand-shaking and hugging that you see after most NBA games. Surely, Michael Jordan and rivals like Larry Bird probably played golf at some point. But there was no love-loss when you the viewer was watching them on-screen. In this way, Westbrook reminds me of a throwback.
Certainly, Oklahoma City (now 1-3) and the 2-1 Rockets are headed in opposite directions. While the Golden State Warriors are finding their footing without Klay Thompson, the Rockets will look to push for the top seed in the Western Conference.
Finally, Westbrook could be on his way to the best season of his career. No friends are needed in this equation.
