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Despite the fact that Russell Westbrook has been one of the best players in his position over the past several years, the “bad teammate” narrative always seems to be a lingering issue that the former MVP has grown to live with. Washington Wizards teammate Bradley Beal has sounded off on this misconception as the All-Star shooting guard expressed just how much of a team player Russ really is.
In a recent appearance on ESPN's The Jump, Beal explained to Rachel Nichols why Westbrook is actually one of the best teammates he's ever had:
“Everybody has this misconception on Russ that he's a bad teammate, doesn't get along with coaches and only cares about himself,” Beal said. “When he got here, it's the complete opposite. He loves his teammates. He's all about his teammates. He's all about team. He's all about winning.”
Westbrook has always had the reputation of being a stat-padder — that he's more concerned about getting the triple-double than he is with winning. Beal completely disagrees with this notion as he explained why he believes his Wizards teammate has been unfairly portrayed in the media.
As Beal describes it, Westbrook's team-first approach has translated quite well for the Wizards of late. Washington lost just their first game in over two weeks on Monday against the San Antonio Spurs. This came after a furious run of eight consecutive wins. All of a sudden, a playoffs berth is now well within the reach of the Wizards, and this has been thanks in large part to Russell Westbrook's tremendous play for his team.
