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Since the departure of Kevin Durant more than a year ago through free agency, Russell Westbrook has been stuck with the label of being a hard teammate to play alongside.
His former teammate Victor Oladipo recently weighed in on this topic as he told Yaron Weitzman of Bleacher Report that he had no issues playing alongside Westbrook in his lone campaign with the Oklahoma City Thunder last season.
“I feel like I'm in a very comfortable situation now—the most comfortable I've ever been since I've been in the NBA,” Oladipo says. “Sometimes, a player might not be in the best situation, but people will still label you and judge you regardless.”
Last year, Oladipo spent the majority of his time spotting up from the perimeter and watching Russell Westbrook break defenses down. It was a new role for him. Throughout his basketball life, he'd always been the one tasked with carrying the load.
“It was definitely something I had to adjust to,” Oladipo says. “I wouldn't say it was hard, but it was something new for me.
Oladipo is adamant about having no issues with Westbrook—or his style of play. On the contrary, he calls Westbrook a close friend and attributes some the success he's enjoyed this so far this season to spending a year watching him.
“I learned so much from Russ,” he says. “Just his mindset, how relentless he is, those are things I've definitely taken with me.”
It was a simply a situation where Oladipo was put into a particular role alongside Westbrook that didn't necessarily allow him to have as much freedom with the ball in his hands. He had to become more of a spot-up shooter and pick his spots offensively. Whereas he has the ability to be more of a playmaker with the Indiana Pacers that has set the table for his career-best campaign where he's averaging career highs with 22.8 points on 47.0 percent shooting from the field and 43.8 percent from beyond the arc.
There isn't any disdain or ill will on Oladipo's behalf in any manner, but rather a much adjustment needed to play alongside Westbrook. He is a strong-willed player that gives off the public perceptions at times as being stubborn and hard to deal with.
It's something that many of the league's top players have had labeled on them at times throughout their career. Ultimately, the type of dialogue around Westbrook is all based on the level of success that the Thunder features with him at the forefront.
This can be viewed as a double-edged sword at times, but it's simply the type of player Westbrook has become. He is a highly competitive player that has much will to win on a nightly basis in the aggressive fashion that he plays. Until he wins an NBA title, this narrative of being a difficult player to play with will continue to stay the course.
