The Houston Rockets picked up a comprehensive 128-108 win over the Denver Nuggets without Nikola Jokic tonight. Jalen Green was excellent and started feeling himself during the game, apparently trash-talking Nuggets’ guard Russell Westbrook.
The veteran Westbrook was confused after the trash-talk, going over to the Rockets bench and telling them about how Green played for his AAU team and is now trash-talking him. This prompted almost everyone on the bench to start laughing, including Rockets head coach Ime Udoka.
“God damn boy. He used to play on my AAU team talking to me like I’m a little ass kid”.
“God damn boy. He used to play on my AAU team talking to me like I’m a little ass kid”.
Russ talking to Jalen Green LMFAO pic.twitter.com/2XvbspmO6a
— ᴇʀᴀ 🕷️ (@TheWestbrookEra) January 16, 2025
Jalen Green scored 34 points (10-16 FG) in under 30 minutes of action as the Rockets dominated the Nuggets. Westbrook had a strong performance with 17 points (6-14 FG), with Green easily outshining him on the night.
So many veteran NBA stars have played an integral role in the development of future American stars through their contributions to grassroots basketball. Elite players like Westbrook often have elaborate camps and AAU teams which they take a profound interest in while mentoring some of the brightest prospects in the country.
Going from being a kid on an AAU team or a training camp to becoming rivals with the NBA superstars those initiatives were based around isn’t uncommon. Even Stephen Curry used to attend LeBron James camps in the mid-2000s before he joined the NBA and became arguably LeBron’s greatest rival.
Other examples include established relationships between Kevin Durant and Trae Young when Young was a kid in Oklahoma while Durant was the franchise star of the OKC Thunder. These examples are endless, as any NBA-level youth prospect often rubs shoulders with the stars of the league.
Next year’s projected No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg has already been scrimmaging against NBA stars, and we recently learned more about 16-year-old LeBron James playing in a pickup game with the biggest stars of the 1980s and ’90s including Michael Jordan. These players often meet their idols very young and if they’re lucky, they get to compete against them and even surpass them on the court.
Westbrook is averaging 13.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 6.6 assists this season in a resurgent year after many expected him to struggle as a featured player on the Nuggets. Green is outshining him as the No. 1 scoring option for the No. 2 seeded Rockets, averaging 21.3 points and 4.4 rebounds this season.
Green has particularly taken a leap since the calendar turned to 2025, averaging 30.6 points over his last seven games. While Westbrook’s contributions to the Nuggets are being rightfully appreciated, there’s no question that Green is performing at a higher level as the featured star on a top-2 team in the West.
Many NBA veterans relish the opportunity to give back to the game by helping the next generation. Westbrook played a role in Green’s development through the ranks but now has to face the music that the young star has surpassed him in talent as of now. However, it’d take Green to become one of the greatest of his generation to mess with Westbrook as an all-time legend.
Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We appreciate your support.
