Even Russell Westbrook had to laugh at this impression of what he looks like on the court
Throughout his NBA career, Russell Westbrook has earned scores of fans (and an awful lot of detractors) for his unapologetically amplified approach to playing basketball. He hurtles toward the rim like the Hulk in high tops, and when he lands after yet another gamma detonation, he tends to uncork the sort of roar that’ll wake you the hell up. Westbrook roars a lot, and roared even more last season, when he became the NBA’s most watchable weapon, led the NBA in scoring and carried an Oklahoma City Thunder squad missing reigning MVP Kevin Durant to within one victory — or, more accurately, one ridiculous buzzer-beater loss — of the playoffs.
Westbrook’s default reaction is overreaction; he’s cranked to 11 from the second he steps on the court to the moment he walks back to the locker room. (Once there, he often turns up to 100.) If you’re a fan of the big, the bold and the broad, this is awesome. It’s also, of course, pretty silly, especially when the component parts are divorced from their immediate context, as laid out in this pretty great comedy clip “impersonating” Westbrook’s on-court demeanor.
[Follow Dunks Don’t Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball]
NOTE: The video below includes not-suitable-for-work language; listener discretion is advised.
Even got the demand for a high-five. Now that’s attention to detail.
The impersonator nailing down Russ’ mannerisms, then man behind the social media handle @BdotAdot5, is Brandon Armstrong, a Georgia-born guard who played college ball at Division II Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee and spent some time with the D-League’s Reno Bighorns before choosing to move into the “social media icon/entertainer” space with comedy videos, many of which rag on NBA players’ proclivities. Even the man himself couldn’t help but acknowledge how accurately he was pegged:
It’s like my grandfather always said: “If you can’t laugh at how insane you look after you perform remarkable feats on the basketball court, you can’t laugh at anyone else after you perform those feats all over their faces and heads.” I don’t think we have to worry about Russ forgetting to do either anytime soon.
– – – – – – –
Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
Stay connected with Ball Don’t Lie on Twitter @YahooBDL, “Like” BDL on Facebook and follow Dunks Don’t Lie on Tumblr for year-round NBA talk, jokes and more.
