Russell Westbrook is well-known as being one of the most outspoken players on the court. We often see Westbrook jawing at opposing players after a scored bucket, and his “rock the baby” celebration is fairly iconic.
A recent article by Tim MacMahon of ESPN revealed that several players believe Russell Westbrook is “the most relentless trash-talker” in the NBA, with the reason for that being “self-motivation”. The article featured comments from P. J. Tucker and Damian Lillard, the latter of which hilariously claimed Russell Westbrook “talks to himself out there” when referring to his on-court talk.
Then, there is Westbrook, who several players say is the most relentless trash-talker in the league. His motives? Self-motivation, players suppose.
Tucker, who acknowledges occasionally talking trash to try to energize himself when he feels lethargic, laughed as he recalled how much Westbrook would get under his skin before they were teammates for a season with the Houston Rockets.
“Then I [saw] him when we played together; he’d talk s— to get himself going every night,” Tucker said. “It has nothing to do with you. You’re just a person. You’re just the guy. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you did. You’re the guy and he’s going to talk s— to you.
“That’s just Russ.”
Lillard, who has had his fair share of on-court battles with Westbrook, phrased it differently.
“I think,” Lillard said, “he talks to himself out there.”
There is no question that trash talk can be a great way to motivate oneself, whether it is in response to another person or as in Westbrook’s case, talking to get himself fired up. Joe Ingles has notably stated that you shouldn’t trash talk Russell Westbrook, as he can deliver an explosive performance in an instant afterward.
Russell Westbrook has been viewed by some as the cause of the Lakers’ poor record this season, but there’s no doubt that he’s had some stellar games this year as well. Hopefully, we see Westbrook find the motivation to deliver some good performances going forwards, and perhaps that’ll come from his own trash talk.
