After the Los Angeles Clippers stormed back from down 22 points to beat the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night, James Harden stopped Russell Westbrook on the court to have a conversation. Later in his postgame interview, Harden was asked about the interaction and he revealed his message to Westbrook.
“Just stay with it,” Harden said. “It’s a long season. I know it’s probably frustrating for him, just cuz his minutes is fluctuating, but I think all of us are trying to figure out how we wanna play our different lineups and who works better with who and things like that. It’s frustrating, it’s human nature we all get frustrated, we all want to put our head down and I feel we all need somebody to pick us up and tell us it’s gonna be okay.”
James Harden’s message to Russell Westbrook:
“Just stay with it. It’s a long season. I know it’s probably frustrating for him, just cuz his minutes is fluctuating… We all need somebody to pick us up and tell us it’s gonna be okay.” pic.twitter.com/FrjKLGXdUN
— Joey Linn (@joeylinn_) December 3, 2023
Ever since Westbrook chose to go to the bench in order to help the team, he has seen his minutes fluctuate a lot, which can be quite frustrating. He has played under 20 minutes in a lot of the games and got 19 in this one against the Warriors.
The Clippers are still trying to figure out which combinations work and that, in part, has led to the fluctuation. Things certainly could get better as time goes by and Harden just wants Westbrook to keep his head up through some difficult times.
Russell Westbrook Came Up Big At The End Of The Game
To Westbrook’s credit, he is trying to give his best whenever he is on the court and this game was no different. After sitting on the bench for much of the fourth quarter, head coach Tyronn Lue put Westbrook in the game with just over 30 seconds remaining.
The former MVP repaid Lue’s trust by grabbing a huge defensive rebound ahead of Draymond Green when the Clippers were down 112-110. Then on the final possession, he did a terrific job of recovering and then contesting Green’s potential game-winner. It led to Draymond missing it and the Clippers won 113-112.
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) December 2, 2023
Westbrook ended the game with just 8 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block, but he certainly played a big role down the stretch to ensure the Clippers got the win. He is now averaging 9.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game since taking on this bench role.
Charles Barkley Was Full Of Praise For Russell Westbrook
Westbrook tends to be a fairly polarizing figure, but he earned a lot of praise for requesting to come off the bench for the betterment of the team. Charles Barkley is one of many who have sung his praises for it, and Barkley lauded Westbrook for being selfless with this move to the bench.
“This guy is one of my favorite players ever and one of my favorite people. I wanna give a shout-out to Russell Westbrook,” said Barkley. “Who said, ‘Hey this ain’t going to work’ and he is confident and self-esteem enough to say I’ll come off the bench. For a guy who’s won MVP and who’s gonna be in the Hall-of-Fame. I love that guy as a player.”
We have seen so many older stars in the past refuse to come off the bench and it really speaks to Westbrook’s character that he volunteered to do it. It would be very easy for him as a former MVP to scoff at the notion of being a bench player, but he just wants to help his team win.
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