The hidden side of Russell Westbrook: The NBA's most hostile interview is also its kindest teammate

Russell Westbrook sat at a podium after a March game with an apparent air of nonchalance. He looked more focused on his phone charger than the assembled media. As he readied himself to answer questions about a loss against the hapless Pelicans that had dropped the Kings to a league-worst 14-50 record, that veneer of indifference faded quickly.

In reality, Westbrook had arrived laser-focused on the ensuing confrontation. Over the next six minutes, he grilled the local media, criticizing them for providing false context and making judgments without being present for practices or film sessions.

"You don’t know anything about me," Westbrook told the Kings beat. "But you make a lot of comments as though you do know me, my intent. I see it."

MORE: Russell Westbrook rips media in 6-minute rant

For many media members, it was an example of the same old Russ. Back in 2017, Howard Beck, The Ringer’s Senior NBA Writer and president of the Professional Basketball Writers Association, called Westbrook the toughest player to interview by a mile. 

"He just oozes contempt for the media, or at least for the interview process. His answers are often clipped and condescending, frequently defensive, and occasionally hostile," Beck said back then. 

Beck stood by those comments in a phone call five weeks prior to Westbrook’s Kings rant. 

"In the course of the time I’ve been covering the league, he’s at a particular end of the spectrum, among the more contemptuous of the media," Beck told The Sporting News. "I don’t think that’s hyperbolic. I don’t think that’s anything other than an objective assessment."

Westbrook is correct that few in the media know him. But it’s by his own choice. The side he shows the public and the press is often surly, argumentative, and short. In private, he’s a different man, defined by a borderline-obsessive level of kindness.

Russell Westbrook's war with the media

Many media members who have been around Westbrook enough have their own personal stories of difficult interactions with the future Hall-of-Famer. Getting ghosted by him is a rite of passage. I once spent seven hours in an NBA arena experiencing it myself. And true to form, Westbrook did not respond to an interview request for this story. 

The Athletic’s Fred Katz, who covered Westbrook with both the Thunder and the Wizards, admitted he initially disliked the assignment because Westbrook frequently made the job more difficult. As Katz grew more seasoned though, his opinion completely changed.

Katz and Westbrook still aren’t what anyone would call friendly. “I never thought he really liked me at all,” Katz admitted to me. But the reporter found that there was way more hidden underneath the surface of Westbrook’s gruff exterior.

"I started to realize from a character perspective, this is one of the most interesting characters in the history of the NBA. He is a one-of-one human being. There’s a difference between what people say he’s like behind the scenes and what he’s like in front of the scenes," Katz said.

Katz now lists Westbrook as one of his favorite players to have covered. He’s not alone. While Westbrook was criticized by many members of the media after his Kings rant, others quickly sprang to his defense. 

NBA reporter Cayleigh Griffin tweeted that Westbrook was one of her favorite players to cover while in Houston. Sideline reporter Lesley McCaslin echoed those sentiments, noting Westbrook’s intensity actually made her better at her job. And off-camera, he showed a rare personal touch. When McCaslin was pregnant, Westbrook surprised her by personally selecting a high-end stroller as a gift.

"He’s more human than people would ever think," McCaslin told Sports Illustrated’s Lee Jenkins in 2016. "He just doesn’t want you to know that."

Imagn Images

Russell Westbrook, the beloved teammate

Where the media sees a wall with Westbrook, teammates see a bridge. Many players who have played alongside him cite him as their favorite teammate ever and someone who brought people together. Clint Capela, who was with Westbrook for only 35 games, is one of them. He called Russ "the most genuine superstar" that he’s ever played with.  

"Very happy person. Very nice guy," Capela told me. "Always smiling, always joking around. I was like wow, I never thought that a superstar could also be that great of a guy."

Capela once noted that he loved an expensive bracelet that Westbrook was wearing. Westbrook immediately took it off his wrist and handed it to him as a gift. 

Alex Abrines played three years alongside Westbrook. It was a difficult time in Abrines’ career, where he was plagued by loneliness. Abrines told Cope that "Westbrook was incredibly kind to me. When I wanted to quit, he took me out to dinner, and it was great."

Another Oklahoma City teammate, Jerami Grant, echoed Abrines' beliefs. "He’s just real. He’s a real person. And he cares about all his teammates. He tries to understand who you are as a person and pushes you to be the best."

DeAndre Jordan recruited Westbrook to the Nuggets last season. He had known Russ for 20 years and called him "one of the most interesting guys in the league. One of the most caring guys." Jordan saw Westbrook mentoring younger players, taking particular interest in undrafted rookie Trey Alexander.

"He paid for dinners, got clothes for guys. It’s cool to be able to see him give back to guys who really look up to him."

Westbrook is intensely generous with teammates, but also legendarily disciplined when it comes to his own money. 

"I’ve seen him a few times during breakfast balancing his own checkbook," Grant said. "I’m asking him, like bro you doing this yourself?"

Westbrook’s former coach Scott Brooks was once seated in first class on a flight. He saw Westbrook walking back to coach. When Brooks asked why he wasn't sitting in the front of the plane, Westbrook replied, "For $300 less, we’re going to get there at the same time."

Russell Westbrook's private charity work

Westbrook extends his generosity far beyond teammates. Just don’t ask him to talk about it. 

"Russ is doing nice stuff, covering up his nice stuff, and then letting his not-nice stuff not be covered up," Katz says. "It’s a strange dynamic."

Westbrook gave away both cars that he won as a two-time All-Star MVP to families in need. He’s a regular in children’s hospitals, once surprising a 13-year-old quadriplegic boy in order to fulfill his Christmas wish.

He’s enlisted teammates to help give away Thanksgiving turkeys. He’s donated hundreds of pairs of shoes for kids and meals for nurses during COVID. And he’s done much more that we will never know about. 

"He doesn’t want a lot of press about it," Jordan said.

NBA support staff aren’t guaranteed a share of players’ playoff bonus revenue. It’s up to the guys on the roster to choose how to split up that money. When playoff time came around on the Thunder, Westbrook was the one leading the charge of making sure everyone on staff got a piece.

Westbrook’s connections have stayed strong even years later. Billy Donovan last coached Westbrook in 2019. After Donovan’s father recently passed away, he told the Bulls beat Westbrook was one of the first people to text him. 

"He’s always giving. I don’t think a lot of people see that side," Grant said

Why does Russell Westbrook hate the media?

So why is Westbrook so kind to those in his orbit yet so negative towards the media? Katz has a theory.  

"This is my own surmising, but I do think part of the reason is because when you’re so unbelievably competitive and focused all the time, it forces you to find slights in places where there weren’t intentional slights or sometimes no slights at all. It forces you to find those things for extra motivation."

One time when Westbrook was with the Thunder, NBA writer Chris Herring interviewed him for a feature. Herring asked Westbrook a question, citing data that showed Westbrook driving to the left 73 percent of the time that year. Westbrook wasn’t into the question. He took the observation as a personal challenge, spending that night’s game driving right every single time as Herring and others watched in awe from press row. 

Westbrook wouldn’t be the first star to make up insults to use as motivation. Michael Jordan concocted a story about NBA role player LaBradford Smith saying "Nice game, Mike" after scoring 37 points on him in 1993. Shaquille O’Neal convinced himself that David Robinson snubbed his autograph request as a teenager. 

"There are times he gets pissed that I understand where he is coming from," Katz said. "But there are also times where I’m like, 'Nobody meant anything negative by that, and I don’t think anybody else even interpreted anything negative about that until you brought it up the way you did.'"

Westbrook’s latest rant may have been another example. He claimed reporters were engaging in false narratives. When pressed on what those were, he responded that he didn’t want to get into it. 

It’s possible that he had legitimate gripes. It’s also possible that he was using the media yet again as fuel for the final stretch of his career. He followed up that rant with one of the best games of his season, a 23-point triple-double in a rare win against the Bulls.

It was yet another example of the complicated nature of Westbrook. He’s a chaotic and unpredictable force on the basketball court. Off it, he has the most organized locker in the locker room and is never late for anything. 

As a draft prospect, he was known for showing up hours early and waiting in his car for workouts to start. He would iron and starch his t-shirts while playing at UCLA. That same sense of order disappears as soon as the whistle blows. 

Westbrook was once the MVP who was too loud to ignore. Now, in his 18th season, he's still averaging 15.5 points, 6.5 assists, and 5.4 rebounds per game. Yet his performances for the last-place Kings are barely covered, and that's the way that he wants it.

Westbrook has a right to be upset about false narratives. The one that he shows the least interest in correcting though is the one that rings most true — he’s secretly one of the nicest guys in the league.