BREAKING: Nuggets Star Had ‘Heated’ Argument With Russell Westbrook During Playoffs

It’s more than three weeks ago now, but still, Game 2 of the first round of the Western Conference playoffs against the Clippers looms large for the Nuggets. That was when, according to a  report from ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Denver’s locker room issues seemed to come clearly into focus, with the eye of the storm being, of course, Russell Westbrook.

The Nuggets lost that game, 105-102, with two Denver players–Christian Braun and star Nikola Jokic–bricking badly on 3-point tries while Westbrook was open in the corner. Westbrook had 14 points on the night.

After the game, Shelburne reported, Nuggets star Aaron Gordon had gotten into an argument with Westbrook, “challenging” him about his attitude. She wrote: “While (coach David Adelman) had been at the postgame lectern, there’d been a heated discussion between Westbrook and Gordon in the locker room, multiple sources told ESPN. Gordon had challenged Westbrook about his attitude.

“Outside the locker room, one player relayed why Gordon might’ve done so. ‘He’s so immature,’ he said of Westbrook.”

Denver Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook (4)

Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

That’s been emblematic not only of Westbrook’s time with the Nuggets, in which he has been the anchor for a bench unit that is severerly lacking depth, but for his entire NBA career. Westbrook has long had as much raw talent as any player in the league.

But getting him to focus that talent, to consistently take good shots and work on improving his deficiencies–most notably his 3-point shot, as he is an unsightly 30.9% shooter from the arc as a star in a game that has moved increasingly to the perimeter–has been a fool’s errand for all of his 17 years in the league.

Still, for all his immaturity, Westbrook has been a net-positive for the Nuggets, who managed to survive a seven-game slugfest against the Clippers, and are trailing, 3-2, in their Western Conference semifinal series against Westbrook’s original team, the Thunder.

He is averaging 12.5 points despite shooting just 39.8% from the field.

Westbrook himself, memorably, summed up the experience of having him on the floor as an NBA team, back after the Nuggets won Game 7 vs. the Clippers.

“My ability to be a force of nature on the floor is what I pride myself on,” Westbrook said then. “Whatever that looks like — it may be a turnover, a missed shot, a steal, a dunk, a missed 3, a made 3 — it’s going to be all of that. You take it for how it comes, and whatever happens, you go with it. I’ve always been like that.”