	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 25, 2017

Russell Westbrook

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Q. Would you sign your contract extension that's on the table before the beginning of the season?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: Oh, man, man, it's been a long, long summer. I had a baby. So I've been working on a little fatherhood. But like I said before, man, this is a place I want to be. I love being here. I'm excited about the season. Obviously, with a lot of new changes, and I'm excited. From that, I'm going to leave it there.

Q. Russell, a lot has happened in the last three months roster-wise. What do you think? All of a sudden, Paul George and Carmelo are your teammates now.
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: Amazing, man. To be able to play with those two guys and the rest of the guys we have is amazing, man. I'm excited. I'm looking forward to making a great run, and I'm happy they're here.

Q. Russell, how much did you talk to Carmelo in recent days? How much were you guys involved in getting him here?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: We've always been friends. We always communicated prior to any of this, and it just happened just a couple days ago. But we've always been friends and communicated and hung out. Not just talked about basketball, but just being friends. The same thing with P.G., just communicating as well.

Q. You add a guy like Carmelo Anthony, phenomenal talent, but then you lose a guy that was so important to you guys the last few years in Kanter. Just some thought on his time here as a teammate?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: Yeah, Enes was a great guy. I'm thankful that he was able to be here. I wish him nothing but the best. Amazing guy, great guy, community guy. He was a guy that always brought some type of flavor to the locker room to our team. I'm excited for him and nothing but good things for him.

Q. You've got a lot of new faces. Does Team USA help you at all? I mean, that you guys played together, especially like Carmelo? Does that help at all in the transition?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: Definitely, it will help. Obviously, when you have a team and playing Team USA you have a lot of superstars and different guys on the same team. So guys have to sacrifice and do different things. That definitely helps. But here we've got to figure out the best way for everybody to play and for our team to play. That part is easy in my opinion. Just being able to go out and you have one goal and that is win a championship. Guys will do what needs to be done to win a championship.

Q. Russell, how specifically will you enhance Carmelo on the court? What will you do to bring out the best in what he has to offer?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: As a point guard, and that's a part of my job, is to be able to help all the guys and make their job easy. I will constantly continue to do that for him, and for the rest of our guys as well, in making his job the PG job, and everybody's job in the transition easy.

Q. Lot of reaction around the league so far today on what Donald Trump had to say on Friday. I'm just wondering what Russell Westbrook's reaction would have been?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: Obviously the things he's saying is outrageous in my opinion. It's uncalled for, especially due to all the other things we have going on in the world. You know, the people, the families, the people all across the world that are hurting, that needs help, that need guidance from our house. But I think it's unnecessary and uncalled for. I'm definitely not in agreement to anything he says, and I never will be.

Q. You mentioned at the beginning that Oklahoma City is the place that you want to be. I'm just wondering what the hold up is, what the process was like for you thinking about the extension over the summer?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: The process is, like I said before, man, I've been at home. I've been traveling. Just trying to get my family together, honestly. You know, having a new son can be a little difficult, you know what I mean? I've been trying to help my wife, help my family and enjoying and embracing that moment as much as I can because I know during the season I'm going to be traveling and moving around.

So I've just been embracing that and finding ways to be able to do that as much as I can.

Like I said before, man, like I told you guys last year, this is a place I want to be. I love being here. I love the fans. I love the people here. I'm back now to get a chance to simmer down and get everything situated. Obviously now with a few changes, I'm good. I like where I'm at. I like where our team is.

Q. Speaking of the actual extensions, you signed an extension with Jordan too. What was that process like for you and what led you to that decision?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: That process was easy. That process was easy. Just thankful to be a part of the brand, obviously, for the next tenor so years, man. I'm excited just to be with the Jordan brand and I'm excited for that whole experience.

Q. I know you're an NFL fan, so I'm sure you saw some of the different forms of protest that happened yesterday. Do you see that spilling over into this league? If so, how do you see that manifesting itself?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: I'm not sure, man. I'm not sure. I think as for me and our team here, if it's something that we would discuss and go back to the team and discuss how we want to approach that and the National Anthem, we have a lot of respect for the flag, for the National Anthem. Obviously if our guys want to do something that represents and represents togetherness and something that we can sit together as athletes, I'm all in for.

Q. This is your team now, so can you just talk about the job that Sam Presti has done to put these players like Carmelo and Paul George around you to try to get that championship?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: Oh, man, he's done an amazing job. He's done a great job ever since I've been here. He's finding ways to constantly keep making us a better team. You know, if are that, you definitely are very, very thankful to have somebody like that in charge of making those decisions. He's done an amazing job with that.

Q. Sam said that you had an injection in your knee. Wanted to ask how is your knee doing, and what is the severity of that?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: I'm great, man. It's just PRP. Just normal stuff. Something I do, honestly, in the summertime. Just had to move it back this year because, like I told you, I've been at home. So just a lot of different things going on.

For me, family is the most important thing in my life. I take very, very -- I take that very, very seriously, and I take time to be able to embrace the moments of that. So just moved it back a little bit. I'm fine. I'll be ready to go soon.

Q. You said that's something you do in the summertime. Is this something you've had before?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: No, no. I've been able to get check-ups. My knee is fine, I'm great, and I'm doing well.

Q. How does it feel going from being Russell Westbrook the basketball player for the past nine, ten years to being Russell Westbrook, the fashion icon, the fashion maven for the past month?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: The month? Past month (laughing)?

Q. You've been big-time for the past month.
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: Oh, man. Where you been at? Man, look, it's been great. I had a book come out, you know, so that's been a great, great experience. But I wouldn't say that I just started a month ago.

But I'm happy and excited to kind of expand my brand all over the place and do different things. Just happy to be back.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297