Russell Westbrook is finally back home in Los Angeles, and playing for the team he grew up watching; the Lakers. And Russ is slowly but surely getting back into form, as he and the Lakers develop chemistry in the season and build a title challenge for this season.
Most recently, the Lakers came up victorious against the Houston Rockets, Russ’ former team. During the game, Westbrook began ‘crip walking’ while bringing the ball up for the Lakers. The dance move is popular in Los Angeles, as it was originated in the Compton district.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frTlRgqfoQU
After the game, Westbrook spoke about breaking out into a crip walk in the middle of the game. Russ revealed that he heard the song “G’d up” by Tha Eastsidaz come on and just felt his body naturally go into the rhythm of the crip walk.
He added that he understands why people may have been confused, but he found himself to be happy at that moment. On top of that, his teammates got a glimpse into who he is as a player thanks to the moment taking place.
“All I heard was the music and I was like, ‘Oh, this is my joint right here.’ This is my …’ And then my feet start moving. That’s just how it works with me. So, I love to dance and it’s something that I kind of enjoy doing. So, it kind of happened in the middle of the game but, you know, enjoying it. But that also goes to what I mentioned after that game about just our swag and my energy. That’s who I am and in order for us to be who we need to be, I need to be who I am and be free and do things where, to me, it feels normal.”
“And I’m OK with that. But that brings a good energy to my team and my teammates, and it puts us in a happy place. I always remember, throughout a season and throughout a game, you always want to make sure you’re having fun — win, lose or draw. Because if you’re not, it kind of becomes — for me personally — I get so tense. If I’m just super focused and not having no fun then I lose track of kind of what I’m supposed to be doing. So that also is a combination of all that, just having fun, smiling and enjoying the game.”
“They just said, ‘That’s just me being me.’ You know, I like to joke and enjoy the game and have fun while doing it. But also at the same time, I’m going to compete to the best of my ability and that’s just all kind of who I am. And I think some of them didn’t notice it right away and after the game everybody was like, ‘Oh, I didn’t realize you did this throughout the game.’ I was like, ‘Yep, we needed it today.’ ”
For Russ, the game against Houston was another performance that allowed him to build confidence. After his poor showing in the early part of the season, he may have found his swagger back. And Westbrook has said he wants the Lakers to play with swagger throughout the season.
Going forward, the Lakers need to help Russ build chemistry with the rest of the squad. As they get to play more games together, they will get used to playing with each other, and that is what they need if they want to mount a title challenge this season.
