When the Utah Jazz bought out Russell Westbrook back in February, fans of the Los Angeles Clippers were wary of adding yet another rapid All-Star point guard in decline after the addition of John Wall failed to work out according to plan. But in the end, Westbrook won over the Clippers fanbase, and on Tuesday night, he showed that he has plenty of gas left in the tank even if he's already 34 years of age.

In the second quarter of a preseason tilt against the Denver Nuggets, Westbrook hauled in the long rebound, as he usually does, and went off in transition. The Clippers guard then breezed past four Nuggets defenders and exploded all the way to the rim, gliding through the air for a gorgeous layup straight out of the basketball fundamentals textbook.

This play shows that Russell Westbrook still has a few liters left of the nuclear athleticism he has in his tank, reminding fans of his uber-explosive days back when he was still with the Oklahoma City Thunder. In fact, some fans cherished this and expressed their admiration after seeing a glimpse of a version of Westbrook at his peak.

“Prime Russ is back,” wrote @LeDetroitMuse on Twitter (X). Wrote another fan, “The way russ dictates the pace is flawless.”

“Russ can still fly from one side of the court to the other, incredible athleticism,” expressed another.

These sorts of plays are what make watching Russell Westbrook such a joy and such a frustration at the same time. The Clippers guard is capable of being such an impactful driving force for a team, but there are times where he's too athletic for his own good, missing easy layups by throwing it hard off the backboard due to the speed he generated and flinging passes to the second row at times.

Be that as it may, Westbrook has done more good than bad for the Clippers, and fans will always remember his short-lived 2023 postseason in a good light, especially after the future Hall of Famer took on the challenge of leading the team in the aftermath of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George's injuries and put up some solid scoring numbers as the team's number one option.