Russell Westbrook had his best game as a Laker on Friday night. In an overtime win over the Raptors, he led the way with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists on 44% shooting.
It was a statement game in what has been a nightmarish campaign for the former MVP.
Speaking to the media after the final buzzer, he explained why he has yet to lose confidence in his abilities despite all the struggles and the backlash he has faced.
“A lot of times with your misses, when they’re bad misses, that get a lot of attention and stuff… the shots that are kind of high off the backboard. How do you not let that stuff affect your confidence?”
Westbrook: “I got 23,000 points. How about that?”
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) March 19, 2022
It’s a classic Westbrook response. All season long, the guy has dealt with these sorts of inquiries, and he never seems to show any hint of doubt in his own abilities.
“People have never seen any player like me before,” Westbrook told ESPN after a December game. “When people do things that have never been done before, people’s first response is to point out the negatives of why it happened, how it happened. And that’s reality. That’s the world we live in. For me, that’s why I’m OK with being comfortable in doing the things I’m doing for the game and trying to win, and I can live with that.”
Westbrook, 33, is a 13-yeara NBA veteran with 9 All-Star appearances, 9 All-NBA selections, 2 scoring titles, and an MVP to his name.
In 2021, he was traded to the Lakers in a huge blockbuster deal that united him with two of the world’s best players in LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
It hasn’t been an easy ride by any stretch, but Russ has, so far, not let it bring him down or deflate his confidence. That much is to be admired.
