17 takeaways from Russell Westbrook’s tense postgame press conference

Russell Westbrook and Steven Adams gave a press conference yesterday after the Thunder lost to the Rockets in an exciting, close, and sloppy Game 4 during the first round of the NBA playoffs. Sorry, let me rephrase that: Steven Adams didn’t give much of a press conference at all, because when a reporter asked him a question, Russ stepped in and this happened:

[*Steps up to podium*] Let’s walk through this and break it down, because the hot takes concerning this one minute and thirty-five seconds of #content are probably only going to heat up as Monday morning progresses. And, in reality, I don’t think it’s all that take-able. It’s just a series of events that illustrate a series of facts, and I think these are the facts.

[*Turns on projector*]

1. Russ’s incredible season was based on his having to be superhuman while playing on a not-great team (truth hurts, Oklahoma). OKC’s lack of superstar talent makes the fact that Westbrook managed to average a triple-double and score thousands of points a night (seriously, thousands, look it up on truebasketballfactsthatarenotexaggerations dot com) totally wild.

2. In other words, the Thunder are pretty bad without Westbrook: On Sunday night, they were plus-14 with Westbrook on the floor, and minus-18 when he was on the bench.

3. The question the reporter asked ...

“Steven, second time in three games you guys really struggled when Russell went to the bench. You were out there for part of that, what goes on when he goes to the bench? Why is Houston so successful, and do you sense that they get an energy boost just from him going out of the game?”

... was therefore a valid one, given that the biggest narrative of the season has been Russ The Lone Warrior: Thunder Road.

4. And Westbrook’s reaction showed that the reporter clearly hit a nerve. Russ grabbed the mic before Adams could respond, and said this:

“I don’t want nobody trying to split us up, we are one team ... we’re in this together, don’t try to make us go against each other. I don’t want to hear that.”

Then he said “next question” five times as the reporter kept trying to ask Adams why the Thunder were bad without Russ. You think Westbrook would’ve freaked out like that if he hadn’t been hyper-sensitive to the situation already? No. But he’s entitled to this reaction. He never says the reporter is wrong, he just says that he isn’t going to sit there and say nothing while the reporter perpetuates a narrative that would be divisive to his team.

5. Furthermore, [*pushes glasses up onto nose, takes sip of water, ruffles papers on lectern*] the beauty of free speech — while we still have it — is that journalists can ask whatever questions they want, and subjects can answer those questions however they want. They can also not answer them at all. I saw a lot of tweets flying back and forth in the frothy internet wake of this press conference concerning what’s expected from both athletes and reporters. I think it’s fairly simple: Neither side owes the other side anything.

6. In those situations you do, however, have to make decisions based on the consequences of what you ask and how you answer. If, as an athlete, you regularly respond like a shit head, you’re less likely to get favorable coverage. If, as a reporter, you regularly pose questions like a shit head, you’re less likely to get athletes to talk to you. You have to decide when it’s worth making a fuss (and there are definitely people on both sides of the table who are less smart about this than others).

7. I don’t think either of these guys are being shit heads in this case. But I do think things got tense. And while the reporter isn’t wrong, he probably would’ve saved himself a scene by clamming up sooner when it came to this particular storyline. It wasn’t a question that could be served that well by an athlete’s answer — the points and stats tell the story better than a quote would.

8. But also, what on Earth would make you think that, after a season of being petty as all hell and holding one of the best grudges in the history of sports (hey, Kevin Durant, sorry, didn’t see ya there!) while having a historic season, Russ was going to finally give up and let Adams answer a question just because you asked it enough times?

9. He wouldn’t! This moment was illustrative of Westbrook’s ethos. He thrives on adversity. He seems to want people to test him so that he has an excuse to fire back.

10. Russ’s reaction is valid, though, because even if it’s true that he’s carrying the team on his back like a hiker attempting to complete the Appalachian Trail with no help [*points to map*], he can’t admit that. And he doesn’t want his teammates to have to admit that, either.

Basketball is a team sport, no matter how unhelpful the rest of your team can be sometimes. To hop in and save your fellow player from having to say, “Yeah, well, the truth is that we totally blow when Russ isn’t on the floor!” seems, in my humble opinion, a valiant way to protect what’s left of team chemistry. It’s certainly better than sitting there while your teammate in the NASA shirt fumbles to address why he and the rest of the crew are not performing well without you.

11. What Westbrook did, however, is pretty indicative of the Thunder’s season as a whole. Russ hopped in to bat down the idea that his stardom is divisive, but in doing so, proved that he is the star, and that he often controls what happens both on and off the court while everyone else watches.

12. Adams didn’t appear to want to say much, given that when he had a chance to answer, he just pointed at Russ. But Russ didn’t initially give him the agency to field the question himself.

13. And it’s worth noting that this was almost exactly like what happened a year ago when Durant stopped Westbrook from answering a question about how Mark Cuban said Durant was the only superstar on the team. “He’s an idiot,” Durant said of Cuban, defending Russ as Russ sat next to him in a charming fedora. Ah, the memories [*wipes away a single tear*].

14. HOWEVER: All of the previous 13 points above are moot because of what Russ is wearing. You can’t tell anyone who’s outfitted in a floral shirt, bandana, and John Lennon sunglasses anything. Russ looks a character from Dazed and Confused. Or like your older brother’s hot friend from college who was in that cool band you’d later realize was actually trash. In other words: He’s untouchable and allowed to say whatever the hell he wants.

15. I love when Adams just points at Russ.

Did a teacher just ask who put the whoopee cushion on her desk chair? Did your boss ask who was supposed to write up the minutes after a conference call? Did your best friend ask who ate the last slice of pizza and it was you, but you know she’ll kill you if you admit it, so you point to the friend people expect to do that sort of thing?

16. Steven Adams’s NASA shirt is good, too.

17. In conclusion [*stacks papers on top of each other, clicks off projector*] fashion won the Rockets-Thunder playoff series.