Russell Westbrook stonewalls reporters in awkward post-game scene
The vast majority of interactions between athletes and media members are filled with disdain. Even when questions and answers take on the most innocuous forms possible, there are often undercurrents of mutual condescension between those who ask and those who respond. A press conference filled with utterances of “talk about” and “just played hard” isn’t exactly kind just because it’s professional. Both parties are playing roles, not interacting in any meaningful way.
Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook has never shown much interest in that sort of post-game professionalism. The three-time All-Star left a post-game scrum in disdain two seasons ago, answered every question with the same answer after an ejection earlier this season, and gave another super-short media availability just this past Monday. It is officially a trend for him to disregard questions from the media.
In some ways, then, Westbrook’s time with reporters after Friday’s impressive 127-115 win over the NBA-best Golden State Warriors is not especially new. It did, however, reach new levels of awkwardness and discomfort. Take a look:
The Oklahoman’s Anthony Slater posted the full transcript to Twitter:
The most awkward part of the interaction — which is really saying something — is absolutely when Westbrook tells columnist Berry Trammel of The Oklahoman that he flat-out doesn’t like him. As noted by Seth Rosenthal of SB Nation, Trammel has a history of calling out the notoriously (and often unfairly) divisive Westbrook and works at the newspaper responsible for the bizarre “Mr. Unreliable” criticism levied at Kevin Durant when the Thunder were on the brink of elimination at the hands of the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of last spring’s playoffs. They later went on to win that series.
Yet that backstory doesn’t necessarily explain this interaction, because Trammel had not done anything recently that would seem to make Friday night different from all previous nights. In fact, Westbrook would figure to have been in a good mood after a dominant triple-double and all-time-great highlight in what was probably his team’s best win of the season so far. Given the circumstances and recent history, it’s fair to assume that Westbrook has just decided he no longer wants to help out the media with usable answers to questions and will call out anyone who suggests that he’s doing exactly that.
Athletes have done this enough times in the past that we shouldn’t consider it the most shocking thing ever. Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch has gone from not talking to media at all to turning his required meetings into short sessions entirely lacking worth. Less recently,
It should be enough to sustain our interest. – – – – – – – Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!Follow @FreemanEric
