He may not want to talk about Kevin Durant anymore, but Russell Westbrook seems to enjoy throwing subtle shade at his former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate. However, those days may be behind him now.
While wrapping up his pregame warm-up before playing against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday, Westbrook hit a deep three and then sprinted back into the locker room. This is customary part of Westbrook's pregame routine yet this time, it sounds like he yells out, "Thank you Kyrie," before exiting the court. If he did yell that, it can only be in reference to Kyrie Irving's game winner against Durant and the Warriors earlier in the day.
Westbrook really has no reason to thank Irving, other than to take delight in his former teammate losing in a marquee game. But according to him, he didn't say that.
Via The Oklahoman's Erik Horne, Westbrook adamantly said he didn't say Irving's name. What he said was Jamie, who is the daughter of Thunder trainer Joe Sharpe:
Russell Westbrook on what he said running off the court. Said he said "Thank You Jamie," daughter of Thunder trainer Joe Sharpe pic.twitter.com/gfki5Y9YRE
— Erik Horne (@ErikHorneOK) December 25, 2016
Westbrook also claimed when he was going through pregame, the Cavs-Warriors game wasn't even over. RW typically does pregame very early.
— Erik Horne (@ErikHorneOK) December 26, 2016
And from the Norman Transcript's Fred Katz:
For reference, Jamie, who Russ refers to in that video, is trainer Joe Sharpe's daughter. She's sitting baseline in that video.
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) December 26, 2016
Ah, so that clears things up.
But while Westbrook may not be thankful for Irving's game winner, the Cavs and their fans definitely are.
