[Almanza] SGA on Russell Westbrook: “Russ is like Oklahoma’s baby, so I don’t think there’ll ever be another. He was their first guy. You feel him in the streets. Russ is everywhere. He’s a pioneer for what we stand on.”
With the ring and 2 MVPs I do expect Shai to be their franchise goat(franchise goat and best player to ever play for a team are not always the same). But Russ will always be viewed special down there
Russ will always be the most loved but SGA is the goat of the franchise.
Russ is the reason Paul George signed with us as a free agent. He was on an expiring and made it clear he wanted LA. Russ and Sam got him to sign the next year that we’d deal him if shit hit the fan. So even with the current team Russ has his fingerprints on it.
Even off-court, Russ gotta dominate the ball smh/s
Maybe most loved relative to his actual contributions, but I don’t think it will take long for SGA to become the most loved.
Saying this as not an Oklahoman or Thunder fan, so kind of talking out of my ass. But do you cherish your first love more, or the one you ultimately married and brought the most joy to your life? Just kind of how I see it I guess.
The analogy is close but isn’t quite right.
I think younger Thunder fans who maybe came in between Russ/PG being traded and SGA beginning to blossom will lean much harder into SGA fandom.
I think people who have followed, and been fans of, the team from it’s inception will favor Westbrook. Him choosing to stay after KD left was HUGE to a lot of people.
I’d say it’s more like “your first love who you lost through some circumstances” or “the one you’ve moved on with and married to now.”
This is exactly it
What Russ has going for him to continue to be the most loved is all of the things he has continued to help fund and take time to do in Oklahoma. SGA does things too but no one does as much as Russ. Ihart not included because he does more for kids than anyone else has here.
Like D Rose in chicago vs Jordan
no… jordan is definitely more loved than rose
This has to be bait
D Rose is more loved than Jordan?
I think it depends on the age of person you’re asking. But D Rose is “one of us that made it”, so he’s definitely up there despite how his career turned out post injury. And he’s up there to a level that people probably wouldn’t understand if they’re not from Chicago.
That’s alot different I think. Drose was everything to Chicago fans that were born or too young for Jordan but he never replaced Jordan in the eyes of fans especially older ones. I do think he’s the franchise goat for people born 1992 or later. Then I imagine for kids born after like 2011 it’s Jordan again since they never saw either of them play in their prime.
Everyone is shitting on me rn (understandably) but yeah ig you have be IN chicago to feel it. Jordan belongs to everyone, Rose belongs to Chicago and us alone, its just different.
Boy if you dont
Duncan and manu
I mean for Spurs Duncan would both be their franchise goat and best player
It’s more Duncan and Diaw/Matt Bonner for me
Why make the distinction? Hes clearly the best player to ever play for the thunder and the franchise goat.
i think people are hesitant to say it bc it’s early in his career but you’re right honestly
It’s not that early
Because he hasn’t yet passed Durant. He may pass him, but if SGA and Durant retired today Durant is the better player with the better career.
KD has had the better career overall, but SGA has had the better Thunder career.
SGA just won mvp back to back and his career isn’t over. When it’s all said and done he very well could have a better resume
Kd was never this good.
Kevin is absolutely not the best player with the best career with the Thunder. Shai has lapped him in MVPs, and won a ring.
Kevin Durant is the best player to wear a Thunder jersey though. It’s the LeBron-Lakers/Heat conundrum
It’s not about being the better play as a thunder. It is total career. Durant is a better player than SGA over their respective careers so far. That can change.
Lolol he passed KD in OKC. Stop it.
Yeah you can have 2 well-loved superstars even if they have wildly different levels of success.
If Anthony Edwards wins a ring for the Wolves it’s not like Garnett would become any less loved.
Russ is their Allen Iverson
Agreed on all counts. Also one example of franchise GOAT vs best player tonever play for the franchise are the Heatles. LeBron is significantly better than Dwyane Wade, but the latter is the Heat franchise GOAT.
I would be shocked if ever has to pay for a meal in the state of Oklahoma ever again.
Russ is to Edgerrin James as SGA is to Peyton Manning for the Colts.
It would’ve been really cool if Russ could rejoin the team as SGAs backup like Alonzo Mourning did with Shaq when the Heat won it all with Wade.
I think I get what you’re saying, but maybe take an SAT prep class
Edgerrin James built the reputation of the team and Manning won a superbowl. I think it’s pretty appropriate.
Nvm i get it i fucked up. Ps they took these out of the SATs in the 2000s xD
No prob! Looks good now!
Plus I aged myself apparently. Even then, I never took the SAT as Oklahoma universities required the ACT.
“But Russ will always be viewed special down there.” Are we still doing “phrasing!”?
KD too once the hate dies down
….idk about this one.
OKC has no reason whatsoever to feel the same way for KD as they do Russ lol
After Shai it’s impossible now.
The way KD deals with hate is more like pouring Gasoline on it
He is the best nba reality star.
Nah that move is never being forgiven. Guarantee that
Genuinely one of the biggest betrayals in sports history, and that’s something fans never forgive.
Never. At this point KD has created his legacy in the NBA. It aint bad but it’s not great either…..especially the burner account BS.
He will still go down as the best scorer the league has probably ever seen so I’ll give him that.
It would be ignorant to not give KD love for what he did for OKC. The first years of a newly located franchise is so important and he did a lot to make their franchise one to be taken seriously and a league fan favorite. Without the early success they could’ve became the Bobcats/Hornets lol
You’re kind of forgetting the way he left OKC
I think the hate already has died down in OKC and he’s still a very distant 3rd.
Most Thunder fans I know have moved on, but I don’t think KD is ever going to recapture the “special” feeling he once had there. Russ was the star who stayed and SGA is the one that brought them a championship. Not a lot of space there for KD to be anything other than a really good player in their history.
Nah fuck that guy. Imagine Reggie Miller going to the Knicks after losing to them in the 1999 ECF, then shitting on the Pacer organization behind burner accounts afterwards.
Uhhh.. yeah I dunno about that one
“He was their first guy”…
Incoming Getoffmy Dickerson going after SGA
KD started as a Sonic though, so it’s not quite the same. Russ is Thunder through and through.
Well, yeah, but, I think it’s safe to say it was more so how they both left that puts Russ ahead of KD in OKC lol
Obviously how KD left is the biggest factor for how the fans feel about him. I’m just saying Russ started there and stayed there when he had every right to leave, basically until the wheels truly fell off. Then he helped usher in the next era for the team on his way out.
And KD’s gotta know he’s a villain in OKC. We still got love for him in Seattle, though.
What would it even mean to have a culture defined by kevin durant
KD before and after GSW are basically two different people as far as public perception goes. He was a squeaky clean franchise player. He was a fan/media darling. He was like Jayson Tatum if people liked Jayson Tatum. Got shit for taking the hardest road, and then decided “fuck it. I’m done giving a shit on my perception.” And that’s who we’ve got today.
It wasnt just public perception. They really presented him as one thing, then he started talking. For me the canary in the coal mine was during like his second season when someone on Reddit shared how at texas hed send out group texts to see which groupies were available. Sounded like bs at the time and i suppose it still could be but the difference is that everything hes said since makes it totally on brand.
I am 2nd, etc. His crash out really began when his engagement fell apart, seems like he went on his demon arc starting then. Likely because of stuff that led to the engagement falling apart.
Ngl he was better viewed than Jayson Tatum before his OKC departure. That’s how beloved he was.
stars fighting each other to be the bus driver and thrash talking each on X then have it get leaked and they run off to a contender to do the same thing again and again
Thrash talking? We finally ready to discuss early Metallica in the basketball sub? Hell yeah.
KD makes it clear pretty consistently that he looks down on fans. Westbrook on the other hand…
He looks down on fans because he knows he’s not beloved anymore. Either he’ll accept he sucks in the way he operates or he’ll look down on us.
It’s a coping mechanism.
KD makes it clear pretty consistently that he looks down on fans.
he should, most fans are morons
average sports fan has to be one of the dumbest groups on earth
genuinely don’t know how 90% of sports fans even make it through the day
Bunch of whiners and bus riders. That’s the future
He actually says “he was the first guy” but Clemente is a moron and almost never transcribes quotes accurately
He can cry about it, and he most likely will
[deleted]
Russ can live the rest of his life in OKC and not spend a single penny
But he would have to live in OKC
Dang I thought he still has a house there but I did a quick google and he doesn’t
He’s still running charity events for OKC but yeah I don’t think anybody would count on him living there lol
Put some respect on the 2028 Olympic Games host city (for softball and canoe slalom).
thats not a fate i would wish on anyone, living in okc
A fate I’ve happily and healthily lived with. Guess some are built for more comfortable lives, others aren’t.
Go ahead and tell me why OKC is such a horrid place to live you’d make such a hyperbolic assertion. I’m curious~ :p
Russ was literally baby Jesus for Thunder fans I don’t think I met a single thunder fan that has ever criticized or bad mouthed him
It’s hard not to love a franchise star that always play 100%.
Nor would we after he chose to stay and rebuild with us instead of taking the easy way out after the whole KD drama.
He’s earned the love. Thunder fans will recognize his flaws, but we accept them as part of the package deal.
Dude put it all on the line for the Thunder every single game. Legitimately could not ask for more from a basketball player.
It’s kinda funny thinking back in like 2014-2015 thinking KD would be the first legend ever for OKC, but really the one that’s revered to this day in OKC is Russ. And deservedly so.
Some real idiots on local sports radio did and still do complain about him
It depends on when. In retrospect yes no one talks bad but especially when he was second fiddle to KD he got like all the blame for our shortcomings and fans in OKC hated how he’d take bad shots at the end of games
I don’t think I’ve ever met an actual thunder fan
Breaking News: SGA calls Russel Westbrook a Baby!
ESPN: Thunder superstar Shai-Gilgeous Alexander says Westbrook belongs on the street, says Russ is so ordinary you can find players like him everywhere, says Russ is as old as a midwest pioneer
Somebody better get Westbrook a Doinkit
Ya know I’m no SGA fan but I have to say he interviews better than any player. Always says the right things, always gives respect where it’s deserved, and never makes excuses. Dude deserves props. On and off the court.
He’s level headed and thinks about answering before actually saying it. Not saying other players dont, but imo he does it more consistent compared to others.
His whole life is consistent
OOOOOOHHHHHHH
I have to agree
Yep, hate his guts on the court but dude is a class act in every way (at least from what we’ve seen).
wemby >
He’s just sooooo booooooring though
I’m ok with that.
you can always watch Love Island if you’re looking for glamour
Someone asking for a slice of cake isn’t asking for the whole thing.
he’s unproblematic, married his high school sweetheart, has 2 beautiful kids that he loves, and to top it off, is one of the greatest players of this generation.
I’m struggling to see what’s boring you.
Non Oklahomans can never understand how it felt to be picked over everyone else. Happy Russell Westbrook Day
What Russ is to Thunder is what Lowry is to Raptors. Not the best player to wear the uniform in each team, even though up there, but the most beloved.
Westbrook is this City’s soul but SGA is our team’s main resume highlight for sure. Russ did more than any stat record could show for our team. He’s Mr. Thunder if we didn’t have Nick Collison lol.
OKC fans have zero reason to have any ill will for Russ. Man gave literally all of his formative years to the franchise before moving on and played arguably some of the greatest basketball for the franchise. Zero doubt he gets into HOF as soon as his eligibility opens
I fully believe Russ jersey will be in the new arena, that being said Shai is going to be the first statue.
Also, I might be crazy, but as a Thunder fan I think we should build a statue of Presti as well.
The real Thunder GOAT is Presti … Followed by Paul George
PG def needs his isolated statue
Presti for sure deserves one. As a SuperSonics fan that’s what bums me out the most, missing out on the greatest GM in history bill
on a team that has had 3 different MVPs in the last decade or so, the part thar bums you out the most is missing out on the GM?
Ummmmm…. What actions do you think made him the greatest GM of all time? Obviously those 3 MVP’s are part of the package
Exactly don’t take a genius to tank for 3 years or more and have forever to rebuild off the backs of Sonics fans. He is just lucky and leveraged the future because of the incompetence and corruption around him.
Statue pose - lying on the ground after a flop or shooting free throws?
Presti statue is 100% deserved.
I’m a generational Shai hater but he deserves a statue.
Only way I’m okay with another OKC chip is if they sign Russ
We can dream
You just have to put it into perspective that this is Oklahoma’s only pro sports team and Russ was there from literal Day 1. Even KD or Collison, they started in Seattle. Not Russ. It’s not something you can replicate.
I thought he cut his hair?
He did, It’s braided. His old cut had longer braids
He did. It seems to have grown really quickly over the past 3⁄4 months lol
I’ll die on the hill that there are very few if any players that mean more to an NBA franchise and city than Russ does to OKC
The Pioneer is a great nickname
Russ took Oklahoma’s virginity confirmed
Only feel him in the streets if you have consent
I’d actually say Chris Paul was our first guy. We wouldnt have an NBA team without him and he played his rookie year in OKC. After that it certainly is Westbrook and I really hope they can both get a 10 day contract this season.
I know he’s an insecure bitch and all but this KD revisionism / erasure is getting silly
the revisionism makes sense when you realize he quit on the thunder even tho they were 1 win away from a finals berth 😂
He was a sonic first. Westbrook was a pure Thunder player.
You may as well count Jeff Green too if you’re going to count players drafted/obtained as Sonics
KD played in okc first
KD’s rookie year was the last year in Seattle. The very next season was Russ’ rookie season. They started in OKC together, but KD started in Seattle. Russ didn’t.
What SGA said isn’t a slight against KD? Westbrook’s contributions to OKC during his time with KD stand on their own. Fans like him more too because he was objectively more loyal than KD. I fail to see what you’re offended by.
In addition, if KD wanted to be OKC’s guy, he shouldn’t have left to join the rivaling team that knocked them out. He’s allowed to leave, but you can’t act like he can have his cake and eat it too.
“I don’t know her”
Mariah Carey voice
He’s a symbol of Seattle’s loss.
Least corny shai answer
Oh my god, shut up with “the streets” bullsh*t.
Nah… you stand on flopping and flailing. Russ stood on explosiveness, athleticism, and aggression.
LOL he was really just spewing whatever was coming to his mind
Bunch of flopping team stealing babies. Westbrick chokestar. He had good stats sure..
Westbrook was drafted by the Seattle Sonics
“He’s a pioneer for what we stand on.” ???? But you guys actually won…
That’s what he means. Russ got the franchise far/set the foundation and then they built on what he did.
NBA fans are the fucking worst
Cause I don’t like Westbrick?
NBA fans are too busy comparing players to recognize game. The players get it.
The players that play in the NBA get it more than the fans who watch the NBA? Groundbreaking stuff, big dog.
Yeah but they needed a trailblazer. Someone to loosen up the pickle jar lid
I’ll respect the analogy.
?????? Stop with the whining and all the question marks, just go with it man
Your comment is typical crybaby behavior.
Flopping like fish outta water?
KD was drafted before Russ & Russ kinda was the reason KD left but sure, gotta love Russ if you’re OKC
Always that one ratchet Knicks fan…
🤦🏽♂️
Hell yeah, fuck Boston !
Durant has pretty much given every indication that Russ was the only reason he was even considering staying.
This “Russ drove him out of town” narrative is only wishful thinking because it sounds juicier.