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Sam Amick: The assumption around the league has been that Russell Westbrook wouldn't be back. I don't know that we can make that assumption 100%. The assumption has been that that Doug Christie very possibly wouldn't be back. We'll see on that front. It is a big summer for Scott Perry in the front office.
It’s no secret that guard is considered to be the deepest position in this draft ... with some scouts calling it the deepest draft for guards since the 2018 edition that delivered Luka Dončić, Trae Young and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Another executive I spoke to compared this guard class to the Class of 2008, which featured Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, OJ Mayo and Eric Gordon.
When you think of the greatest point guards to ever play in the NBA, one name you have to mention when it's all said and done is Russell Westbrook. The former MVP and future Hall of Famer has added to his extensive resume with his most recent history-making feat. Westbrook has surpassed two legendary point guards on the NBA's all-time assist list, Steve Nash and Mark Jackson, and now sits alone at No. 5 with 10,343 assists. He passed those greats during the Sacramento Kings' game against the San Antonio Spurs on March 17. He moved Nash and Jackson down to No. 6 and 7, respectively. Westbrook made history after dishing a pass inside to Kings rookie center Maxime Raynaud, who made a 6-foot push shot with 5:00 remaining in the second quarter.
NBA Communications: Sacramento's Russell Westbrook is closing in on the top five on the NBA’s all-time assists list. He needs: • 2 AST to pass Mark Jackson (No. 6) • 3 AST to pass Steve Nash (No. 5) The Kings host the Spurs tonight at 10 PM ET on NBA League Pass.
LeBron has reached 14,000 career assists with playoffs included. First player to reach the 14k rebound/14k assist club. No other player is in the 10k/10k club although Russell Westbrook is 74 rebounds away from joining that. Jason Kidd came up 217 rebounds short of the 10k/10k club.
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The Thunder, however, do not hang any banners for the SuperSonics in Oklahoma City, and in their media guide they don't highlight any Seattle stats -- listing, for example, Russell Westbrook as the team's all-time assists leader, rather than Payton. Sources said if a team was to return to Seattle, the Thunder would cede the Seattle history back to the SuperSonics -- just as the NBA's Charlotte Hornets reclaimed the Charlotte-era history of the New Orleans Pelicans when Charlotte regained the Hornets name in 2014.
For many media members, it was an example of the same old Russ. Back in 2017, Howard Beck, The Ringer’s Senior NBA Writer and president of the Professional Basketball Writers Association, called Westbrook the toughest player to interview by a mile. "He just oozes contempt for the media, or at least for the interview process. His answers are often clipped and condescending, frequently defensive, and occasionally hostile," Beck said back then. Beck stood by those comments in a phone call five weeks prior to Westbrook’s Kings rant. "In the course of the time I’ve been covering the league, he’s at a particular end of the spectrum, among the more contemptuous of the media," Beck told The Sporting News. "I don’t think that’s hyperbolic. I don’t think that’s anything other than an objective assessment."
Many media members who have been around Westbrook enough have their own personal stories of difficult interactions with the future Hall-of-Famer. Getting ghosted by him is a rite of passage. I once spent seven hours in an NBA arena experiencing it myself. And true to form, Westbrook did not respond to an interview request for this story.
The Athletic’s Fred Katz, who covered Westbrook with both the Thunder and the Wizards, admitted he initially disliked the assignment because Westbrook frequently made the job more difficult. As Katz grew more seasoned though, his opinion completely changed. Katz and Westbrook still aren’t what anyone would call friendly. “I never thought he really liked me at all,” Katz admitted to me. But the reporter found that there was way more hidden underneath the surface of Westbrook’s gruff exterior. "I started to realize from a character perspective, this is one of the most interesting characters in the history of the NBA. He is a one-of-one human being. There’s a difference between what people say he’s like behind the scenes and what he’s like in front of the scenes," Katz said.
NBA reporter Cayleigh Griffin tweeted that Westbrook was one of her favorite players to cover while in Houston. Sideline reporter Lesley McCaslin echoed those sentiments, noting Westbrook’s intensity actually made her better at her job. And off-camera, he showed a rare personal touch. When McCaslin was pregnant, Westbrook surprised her by personally selecting a high-end stroller as a gift.
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One time when Westbrook was with the Thunder, NBA writer Chris Herring interviewed him for a feature. Herring asked Westbrook a question, citing data that showed Westbrook driving to the left 73 percent of the time that year. Westbrook wasn’t into the question. He took the observation as a personal challenge, spending that night’s game driving right every single time as Herring and others watched in awe from press row.
Many media members who have been around Westbrook enough have their own personal stories of difficult interactions with the future Hall-of-Famer. Getting ghosted by him is a rite of passage. I once spent seven hours in an NBA arena experiencing it myself. And true to form, Westbrook did not respond to an interview request for this story. The Athletic’s Fred Katz, who covered Westbrook with both the Thunder and the Wizards, admitted he initially disliked the assignment because Westbrook frequently made the job more difficult. As Katz grew more seasoned though, his opinion completely changed.
Katz and Westbrook still aren’t what anyone would call friendly. “I never thought he really liked me at all,” Katz admitted to me. But the reporter found that there was way more hidden underneath the surface of Westbrook’s gruff exterior. "I started to realize from a character perspective, this is one of the most interesting characters in the history of the NBA. He is a one-of-one human being. There’s a difference between what people say he’s like behind the scenes and what he’s like in front of the scenes," Katz said.
Katz now lists Westbrook as one of his favorite players to have covered. He’s not alone. While Westbrook was criticized by many members of the media after his Kings rant, others quickly sprang to his defense. NBA reporter Cayleigh Griffin tweeted that Westbrook was one of her favorite players to cover while in Houston. Sideline reporter Lesley McCaslin echoed those sentiments, noting Westbrook’s intensity actually made her better at her job. And off-camera, he showed a rare personal touch. When McCaslin was pregnant, Westbrook surprised her by personally selecting a high-end stroller as a gift. "He’s more human than people would ever think," McCaslin told Sports Illustrated’s Lee Jenkins in 2016. "He just doesn’t want you to know that."
