Unlike the contentious departures of Kevin Durant in 2016 or James Harden in 2013, Russell Westbrook`s exit from Oklahoma City left no lingering bitterness among the local fanbase. Even though he initiated the move behind the scenes, it wasn`t a messy affair.
This lack of animosity was evident in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals. When Westbrook checked in with 5:17 left in the first quarter, as the crowd was cheering for their current MVP candidate, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, they paused to give a standing ovation to their former superstar.
Much to the consternation of the home crowd, Westbrook seemed energized by the moment, making crucial plays down the stretch as the Nuggets erased a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit. The most significant play came in the final seconds.
With just over eight seconds remaining and Denver trailing 119-118, Nuggets guard Christian Braun grabbed a rebound on the right wing and quickly threw an outlet pass to Westbrook, who was racing down the right sideline with his signature burst of speed.
In a situation tailor-made for drama, Westbrook faced a game-deciding choice. Everyone expected him to drive aggressively towards the basket through the Thunder defense, seeking a potential game-winning shot. Both the Nuggets and the Thunder had witnessed this scenario many times, with mixed results.
Thunder center Chet Holmgren even sagged back, attempting to entice Westbrook into a difficult decision: either a contested drive or a pull-up three-pointer. It was a clear challenge, and Westbrook is known for embracing challenges.
Even Denver`s broadcast team seemed to anticipate Westbrook taking on the challenge himself. In just about three seconds, their reaction perfectly captured the unpredictable “Russell Westbrook experience.”
With 7.2 seconds left, Westbrook received Braun`s pass and accelerated, first towards Thunder forward Jalen Williams, then towards the formidable shot-blocker Holmgren.
`No, no, no. No! Noooo!`
`Oh, geez!`
Then, stunned, they watched the screen in disbelief. Westbrook did not drive head-first into a 7-footer, risking a turnover or a bad shot. He also didn`t stop for his own shot from beyond the arc.
Instead, he delivered a precise pass to an open Aaron Gordon on the left wing. With 2.8 seconds remaining, Gordon sank a 25-foot shot, giving the Nuggets an improbable 121-119 lead.
Following the game, Westbrook explained his decision-making process. “I saw Chet in the paint, and my role is to drive and kick,” he stated. “AG was prepared to shoot. He`s been hitting big shots all season.”
Whether this instance of composed decision-making signals a genuine change or was merely an isolated event remains uncertain.
This Nuggets team has already achieved a championship, something Westbrook is still striving for. On nights like the Game 1 victory, it feels as though that championship experience is influencing Westbrook positively. On other nights, the opposite seems true.
“This is a seasoned team; the players have been in these situations before,” Westbrook commented. “It`s incredibly helpful to have your teammate supporting you. I believe we did a great job supporting each other through all the ups and downs, whether it was favorable calls, unfavorable calls, missed shots, or turnovers.”
In many ways, Westbrook`s narrative reflects the story of the 2024-25 Nuggets – a mix of extreme highs (game-winning energy surges, effective two-man plays with Nikola Jokic, incredible rebounds and defensive plays) and perplexing lows (missed layups, poor shooting, questionable decisions, perceived lack of accountability, and disruptions to the team`s previously harmonious locker room culture).
Even the Nuggets organization isn`t certain how this experiment will conclude. However, their prospects for success may very well depend on navigating the performance of the league`s most high-variance, volatile player.
If you were to close your eyes and listen to Westbrook warming up on the Paycom Center court three hours before Games 1 and 2 against the Thunder, you might feel transported back in time.
At 36, Westbrook still resembles his prime, 30-year-old self who electrified this arena during his peak years. His physique remains sculpted, and his meticulously planned warm-up routine starts and ends at precisely the same times it always did.
The only difference, of course, is that he was practicing on the opposite end of the court and sprinting towards the visitors` tunnel after his final shot from the corner.
He allows himself two attempts to make the shot. If he sinks the first, he sprints off content. The same applies if he makes the second. But even if he misses both, he still sprints into the hallway, perhaps slightly less pleased. For Westbrook, routine often supersedes immediate results.
He has returned to Oklahoma City as an opponent with the Rockets, Wizards, Lakers, and Clippers. Yet, this time feels different. Perhaps it`s because their beloved former star is now an obstacle to the next promising team that emerged after his departure. Or maybe it`s because he`s older now and hasn`t found a home that cherished him as OKC did since he chose to leave in 2019.
The story of how Westbrook ended up on the Denver Nuggets isn`t what many might assume. This wasn`t just the final stop on the journey through his late career. Nor was it a whimsical idea from the mind of Nikola Jokic, basketball`s enigmatic genius.
The Nuggets had been interested in Westbrook for several years before they finally signed him as a free agent this past offseason, after the LA Clippers, like numerous teams before them, decided the complete Westbrook experience was no longer worth the cost.
They had considered signing him after the Los Angeles Lakers traded him to the Utah Jazz in February 2023, where he was subsequently bought out. According to sources, some within the Nuggets organization believed their roster of diligent, highly skilled, yet somewhat reserved players needed someone with “some spice,” as team president Josh Kroenke described Westbrook recently, to overcome the playoff barriers they kept encountering.
No player in the league can inject the kind of energy into his team that Westbrook provides, though harnessing it effectively is incredibly difficult.
Nonetheless, the idea remained appealing to the Nuggets at the time because they believed Jokic, their centerpiece, was in his prime, and they understood that the window for winning an NBA championship can close rapidly if a team consistently hits the same limitations.
Ultimately, sources indicated, the Nuggets decided against pursuing Westbrook then, concerned he might disrupt the locker room chemistry and potentially undermine point guard Jamal Murray`s confidence.
That decision proved prescient, as the Nuggets proceeded to win their first championship a few months later.
However, the most recent offseason presented a different situation. They failed to defend their championship the previous season, regressing and exiting again in the second round. Key role players had departed in free agency, and the younger players brought in to replace them developed slowly. The organization felt this regression couldn`t happen again, especially with Jokic playing at an elite level in his age-30 season.
So, the Nuggets made the move, fully aware that Westbrook is essentially a walking list of pros and cons.
On the positive side: Westbrook is intense, driven, consistently competitive, and reliably available.
On the negative side: He can be moody, reckless on the court, inflexible, and appear immature when things don`t go his way.
All these facets, and more, have been on display this season. At times, Westbrook has been exactly what the Nuggets needed; at others, he has been their downfall. He has singularly contributed to both winning and losing games. He has inspired deep loyalty and significant frustration among teammates, sometimes within the same day.
The team is acutely aware of how challenging it is to rely on someone so volatile, and perhaps he is gaining that understanding as well.
“My commitment to being a force of nature on the court is something I value,” Westbrook said after helping the Nuggets defeat the Clippers in their first-round Game 7. “Whatever form that takes – it might be a turnover, a missed shot, a steal, a dunk, a missed three, a made three – it will encompass all of that. You accept it as it comes, and whatever happens, you adapt. That`s always been my approach.”
On April 1st, the Nuggets experienced nearly the full spectrum of the Westbrook phenomenon within a mere 15 seconds.
With 14.2 seconds remaining in double overtime, and the Nuggets leading 139-138, Westbrook intercepted a pass from Anthony Edwards and sped away with an opportunity to seal a game where Jokic had achieved a 60-point triple-double.
But Westbrook missed a point-blank layup, leaving time on the clock for another Timberwolves possession.
On the subsequent play, Westbrook was slow to react and failed to see an open Nickeil Alexander-Walker in the corner. As he scrambled to recover, he fouled Alexander-Walker while he was shooting. Alexander-Walker converted all three free throws, swinging the game back to Minnesota.
It was a difficult loss, and Westbrook did not publicly address his part in it for several days.
Eight days later, interim coach David Adelman demonstrated a firmer approach to managing Westbrook. Multiple sources indicated that former coach Mike Malone had previously afforded Westbrook a level of freedom on and off the court similar to what Jokic and Murray received, which didn`t resonate well with everyone. Ironically, this was why Westbrook wasn`t with the team when Malone and general manager Calvin Booth were fired and Adelman took over on an interim basis.
Westbrook had been granted permission to spend the off day at home in Los Angeles. This led to a discussion among Nuggets decision-makers about whether he should be asked to return to Denver to be with the team as they regrouped, or meet them as planned in Sacramento the next day. Ultimately, he joined them in Sacramento.
In Adelman`s very first game at the helm, after Westbrook missed a three-pointer, a short jumper, and a layup on three consecutive possessions early in the fourth quarter, Adelman substituted him for second-year point guard Jalen Pickett. Pickett played the remainder of the critical crunch-time minutes as Denver secured a win, ending a four-game losing streak. Westbrook finished with a season-low 17 minutes played.
The message was clear.
The whirlwind continued into the start of the playoffs.
After a loss in the first round where Westbrook was visibly upset about being taken out at the end of the game, one player told a reporter that it was “crazy” how Westbrook had “changed the entire vibe and spirit of our team.”
Yet, after a different game, an assistant coach reportedly said, “Russ competed with incredible intensity. I`m amazed he`s still playing like this in Year 17. I wish we had ten players like him.”
Minutes after the Nuggets lost Game 2 of their first-round series against the Clippers, Adelman faced a new challenge.
While he was giving his postgame press conference, a heated exchange took place between Westbrook and Gordon in the locker room, sources revealed. Gordon reportedly confronted Westbrook about his attitude.
Outside the locker room, one player offered perspective on why Gordon might have done so, stating, “He`s so immature.”
The team`s season felt on the verge of a chaotic and dysfunctional end, following a season already marked by disruption after the firing of Malone and Booth with only three regular season games left.
Instead, that moment seemed to catalyze a turnaround.
The Nuggets proceeded to win three of their next four games, eliminating the Clippers. This included a dominant Game 7 victory where Westbrook contributed 16 points on 5-for-9 shooting, along with 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals. In the decisive second quarter, which Denver won 37-21, Westbrook played the entire 12 minutes, scoring 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting, adding 2 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.
“The great strength of this team is our willingness to speak frankly with each other,” one player told a reporter regarding the Game 2 argument, “and hold each other accountable.”
That`s the kind of statement that comes after a victory. And for the moment, Westbrook and the Nuggets are locked in a tough battle with the formidable Thunder. Each game feels like an intense struggle, physically draining for everyone – except perhaps the player who still appears to possess boundless energy.
“We`ve turned the page over the course of the year,” Westbrook said after the Game 1 win against the Thunder. “There have been highs and lows, but we`ve done a good job focusing on our errors and taking responsibility for them. Addressing them and communicating openly. If you want to make a deep playoff run, I believe you have to be honest with each other.”
These are not sentiments commonly associated with Westbrook in the past.
In many ways, his greatest asset is also his vulnerability – his unwavering nature, regardless of pressure or circumstances. He dismisses the idea of compromise. He nearly played himself out of the league rather than accept a bench role with the Lakers, a stance that even led to his former agent ending their professional relationship.
“I can`t envision another team making this move,” one team source commented on the Nuggets signing Westbrook, given his turbulent endings with his previous four teams, “but then again, I never thought *we* would do it either.”
What is undeniable, however, is that the Nuggets felt they had no alternative, and they wouldn`t be in their current position without him.
