Cleveland Cavaliers: Russell Westbrook Denies Thanking Kyrie Irving
Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook denied thanking Kyrie Irving before the Thunder’s Christmas Day match-up against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Prior to the Oklahoma City Thunder’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves Sunday, Russell Westbrook ran off the court after his pre-game warm up routine and appeared to yell “Thank you Kyrie!” as he was making his way to the locker room.
This came after Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving hit the game-winning shot against the Golden State Warrios. While doing so, Irving took down Westbrook’s former teammate Kevin Durant.
Despite what many thought he said, Westbrook denied thanking Irving after his match-up with the T-Wolves.
First try! Russell Westbrook warms up on Christmas Day. RT to #NBAVote for Russ for #AllStar. pic.twitter.com/5bqpbzkaQX
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 25, 2016
According to Royce Young of ESPN, Westbrook was thanking Jayme Sharpe, daughter of Thunder trainer Joe Sharpe.
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“I would never say no other man’s name like that, for one,” Westbrook said. “‘Thank you Kyrie,’ who do I look like? I was talking to my trainer’s daughter, whose name is Jayme. Thank you, Jayme. I’m not going to keep going on that. I’m going to keep my spirit up because I’m not about to even involve myself in no dumb stuff like that. So next question, man.”
Westbrook’s statement seems to be true, as Sharpe was sitting baseline in the video. Also, the timing does not seem to match up, as he finished his routine around 4:02 p.m. and Irving didn’t hit his shot around 4:15 p.m., according to Young.
When asked if he had watched the game between the Cavaliers and Warriors, Wesbrook noted that he had been warming up for a large portion of it, so he didn’t see Irving’s shot to beat the Warriors.
The conclusion that Wesbrook was thanking Irving surfaced because of the animosity between him and his former teammate Durant.
Durant and Westbrook were teammates in Oklahoma City for eight seasons. The two had made to multiple Western Conference Finals together, including a NBA Finals appearance in 2013. However, after losing a 3-1 lead to the Warriors in the Conference Finals in 2016, Durant decided to leave Oklahoma City to join forces with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson in Golden State, which seems not to sit well with Westbrook.
At the end of the day, Westbrook thanking Irving seemed to be one big misunderstanding, and he was really just thanking somebody on the sideline.
What do you think, was Russell Westbrook actually thanking Kryie Irving? Or was it just one misunderstanding? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter @KJG_NBA.
