Reason #1: Russell Westbrook’s teammates LOVE playing with him!
Contrary to what the media has reported in the past, Russell Westbrook is considered by his peers one of the best team leaders in the NBA today. Westbrook not only leads by example but also leads by his voice. He plays extremely hard each night and always demands the same level of effort when he communicates with teammates.
Perhaps I am old school in thinking this is still important, but it is crucial for an NBA point guard to have strong leadership skills. Like a quarterback in football, the point guard is responsible for not only doing his job but also making sure his teammates do theirs as well.
His intense leadership style may not resonate well with everyone. Nevertheless, his past teammates have nothing but nice things to say about him in interviews.
"“It’s so weird because you compete against him for so long and you don’t understand how he has that energy, that drive every single night,” Beal said, per Complex. “That’s what I appreciate the most. His mental toughness, when his body wasn’t feeling great, when he wasn’t in the best of moods, probably was injured more than half the year, for him to push through that and still do what he did and still have the impact he had on our team that was very telling. That spoke volumes.” “I think the biggest misconception about him is as a teammate,” Beal said, per Complex. “He loves his teammates. He just wants the best out of everybody. He holds himself up here and he holds his teammates up here. He’s always going to carry it that way. And I respect him for that. He can accept criticism and he’s all about his teammates being better.” “Whatever he does it’s loud. You feel his presence,” he said, per Complex. “You respect the MVP, you respect his resume. … He’s a tremendous leader and everything that he does, like I keep saying, is loud so you feel it.”"
Anthony Morrow (h/t Bleacher Report):
"“I never played with a dude that dynamic before,” Morrow said. “So I think my game changed once we got on the same page and I realized like ‘yo, it’s different.’ He kinda motivated me to become even a better pro myself just by playing with him.”"
"“Off the court, bro, solid dude. Awesome. Really, really cool,” Adams said. “And then on the court obviously, he’s bloody passionate — whatever you want to call it, whatever you want to name it: intense, passionate, angry, freakin’ psycho, whatever.”"
Adams was a very effective center for Oklahoma City for a long time. The dynamic between the team’s top guard and the center is often crucial to a team’s success (see the Shaq/Kobe relationship on the Lakers). Perhaps with this dynamic in mind, Westbrook often made sure to praise Adams in the media.
"“Steven’s a guy that would run through a wall for me, and I would do the same for him.”"
Media quotes can be misleading. Players can say all the right things but not actually do them. But at the end of the day, Russell Westbrook clearly has the undeniable respect of his teammates.
The narrative that Westbrook is a bad teammate is FAKE NEWS!!!