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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: THUNDER v WARRIORS

May 23, 2016

Russell Westbrook

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Practice Day

Q. Draymond [Green] was asked today about his comment last night that you felt it was on purpose. He said you kicked him on a three attempt, and he also said you're part of the superstar group that started all the acting in the NBA in the first place. What are your thoughts on that?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: I don't have any thoughts. He fouled me at the end of the quarter. That was just a dumb play on his part. It wasn't my fault. And I started the whole superstar what?

Q. Acting, like flopping, flailing, trying to draw contact.
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: I've never been fined for one flop since I've been playing in the NBA. I don't know about no flopping or nothing. I don't know how to flop. But it seems like he was the one that was flailing, kicking his legs out and stuff yesterday. It wasn't me.

Q. What do you think of him bringing you into this?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: That's normal. That's normal. That's normal. But, hey, you've got to bring somebody into it. He wants to take the heat off himself.

Q. He also said that you had stuck your foot out and kicked him?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: He just said that. He just said that.

Q. Is this maybe evidence that when you get deep in a series, hotly contested, two really good teams, that after a while you guys get grumpy about playing one another?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: Yeah. I don't have any friends this time of the year on the court. My only friend is just the basketball. That's it. Everybody else, there ain't no friends.

Q. You guys, the fans, the players, a lot of people have talked several years about a flexible roster and being able to win a lot of different ways. The way you guys won in Game 1 with the big guys and the way you won last night with the small lineup, is that indicative of what you've been talking about all these years?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: It's just something that we've stuck to. We stuck to the plan. Those guys have done a great job of getting guys in here that can play different positions. And those guys have put the work in to put ourselves in position to where we are now.

Q. What was your reaction when you found out you were elected to the Oklahoma Hall of Fame?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: That's a blessing. That's something that anytime you're able to say you're in a Hall of Fame anywhere, I think it's a blessing, especially for somebody like myself. Not even thinking I would ever play in the NBA to being in the Hall of Fame is a blessing. It's something I don't take for granted.

Q. As a competitor, Draymond may be suspended for the next game. Is there a part of you that would want to beat the Warriors playing them at full strength?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: That ain't my decision. I already said what I said last night about it.

Q. When you look at the way Andre [Robertson] has worked and how hard he's worked, there were a couple of games in the last couple weeks -- in the San Antonio series and last night -- he gets the reward for that work. What runs through your mind when you see that payoff?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: It's great to see somebody like that. He puts in the work every day. To see it come into play, it's a great thing. Our job is to reward him and find ways to make sure his confidence stays high in everything that he's doing.

Q. Were you encouraging Andre to be more aggressive offensively?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: Just shoot his open shots. I tell him every game, whenever he's open, shoot the ball. You're a good shooter. If they're going to give you open shots, take it, attack the basket. He's athletic enough to do that, and play off his defense. That's what he did yesterday.

Q. Regardless of Draymond Green's intent or not, there seems to be more incidence of guys getting hit in the groin the last several years. Have you seen an increase in that over your years in the NBA?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: No, I don't pay attention to that. Some of it is part of the game. You can tell if it's intentional or not. You're able to differentiate if it's intentional or not.

Q. Your aggressiveness and physicality has always been huge for this group. How big is it that Steven [Adams] plays that way when it comes to having somebody in the front court?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: It's very important. With his size and being able to use that to his advantage is very important. That's the strength of our team, our size and physicalness. I think it's important that he use it every night.

Q. Are you pretty impressed by his postseason?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: Very impressed. All season long I think he's been great. He's constantly getting better and better each and every year, especially this postseason. He's done a great job of just learning and being able to go from series to series and change his game.

Q. We're doing a story on the people that meet you guys at the airport when you come back from every road trip. What's that experience like being the middle of the night, even after a loss, to have those kinds of people?
RUSSELL WESTBROOK: It's a great experience. Like I said, we've got the best fans in all of sports. I don't know how many fans that do that for their team. Win, lose or draw, they're always there supporting us regardless of what's going on. That's something that you can't take for granted, especially as a player in a town like this.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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