Russell Westbrook’s icy attitude toward the media is nothing new for fans or reporters that have followed him throughout the years. And once again, his comments have landed him in hot water.
During a press conference following the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Game 3 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday, the star repeatedly uttered “next question” when addressed by The Daily Oklahoman’s Berry Tramel. (His teammate Paul George did the same thing with another reporter shortly after.) Westbrook has had an ongoing battle with Tramel for years now. For context, check out Tramel’s article on the matter here.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr took exception to Westbrook’s approach with the media, and made it known after Golden State topped the Clippers in Game 4 on Sunday.
Kerr called Westbrook’s comments “dangerous for the league.”
“I just feel that we have to be very careful as a league,” he said, per The Athletic’s Ethan Strauss. “We’re in a good place right now. Very popular. Fans love the game, the social dynamic, the fashion. But more than anything they love the connection they feel to the players. I think it’s important for the players to understand that it’s a key dynamic to this league. I don’t think this is a healthy dynamic, for this league, for any player, any team, any local media, any national media.”
In fact, the head coach reminded everyone that the media is just “part of the business.”
“You’ve got to feed information to the fans,” he said. “You don’t have to give a great answer, but it’s dangerous when you go down that path of no communication because one of the reasons people like the league right now is we have a lot of great players, really good guys who handle themselves well.”
So Kerr asked everyone, including Westbrook, not to “kill” what they’ve been able to cultivate over the last several years.
“You’ve got to keep that going. That’s a big part of the business,” he said.
As we all know, however, it’s not easy to break a professional out of old habits. So who knows if Westbrook’s attitude toward the media will ever change.
