Before his team’s convincing win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, Rockets guard Russell Westbrook was the recipient of some major respect. Putting up 33 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists in the victory, it was another game in a long string of performances in which Westbrook has dominated.
Clearly impressed with his level of play recently, Memphis rookie Ja Morant spoke very highly of Westbrook, suggesting that folk don’t put enough respect on his name.
“I still feel like he’s highly disrespected,” Morant told ESPN. “People take his play for granted. I mean, he averaged a triple-double for the last three or four years, and I’m pretty sure they see what he’s doing this year, but it’s still the same thing. I just love that he still just goes out and plays and handles his business and doesn’t worry about it.”
Westbrook being Westbrook just shrugged off the praise, insisting that he doesn’t care what anybody says of him.
“I don’t really care what nobody else thinks about my game,” Westbrook said. “I appreciate guys like [Morant] and other guys, but as long as I’m OK and satisfied with what I bring to the table, I’m going to keep busting everybody’s ass.”
Westbrook isn’t averaging a triple-double this season, but he’s pretty close. Through 48 games, he’s putting up 27 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 7.2 assists on a career-high 47% shooting.
He is currently leading the Rockets through an impressive 5-game win streak that has them just two games back from the second-seeded Nuggets.
Indeed, if anybody has earned our respect this campaign, it’s Russ — not that he asked for it anyway…
