Russell Westbrook wasn't always the best player on his team — as it turns out — he wasn't even the best player on his block, as he recalls. That honor belonged to his best friend — Khelcey Barrs.

The two played high school basketball together at Leuzinger High, where everyone came to see Barrs play as the main attraction. But during the last of a long afternoon of pickup games in late May during their sophomore year, Barrs collapsed and died on account of an undiagnosed enlarged heart.

“Obviously, it's something that's always going to be a part of my life,” Westbrook told GQ Magazine. “What I do and where I do it. Always playing for him and his spirit.”

Westbrook was then a wiry 5-foot-9, 160-pound guard hoping to catch enough eyes to land a college scholarship.

“I was just trying to figure out a way to get to college without my parents having to pay,” Westbrook said. “It was very expensive, and we couldn't afford that. And basketball — I was just playing because it was something that I loved at the time. Honestly, I never even thought I had a chance of playing in college.”

During his senior senior, Westbrook had sprouted to his full size, now a 6-foot-3 chiseled shooting guard with the ability to blaze through defenders and wow crowds with his acrobatic finishes.

The Long Beach native was leading his league in scoring by a mile, yet he still wasn't hearing any offers from any schools.

Then days before graduation, Westbrook signed with UCLA — a college that offered him free housing and food. The school also happened to be Barrs's dream school, which made his signing with them that much more meaningful.

“Part of that was me and part of that was him,” said Westbrook.

It wasn't until his sophomore year where an opportunity arose for him to leave his stamp in games, after one of his teammates suffered an injury, which led to a starting job opening.

Westbrook went on to average 12.7 points, 4.3 assists, and 1.6 steals during his sophomore season, declaring for the NBA Draft shortly after its culmination. While he didn't boast the flashiest numbers, his highlight reel was enough to get him drafted fourth overall by the Seattle Supersonics.

Fast forward eight years later and Westbrook is by far the best player on the Oklahoma City Thunder, but his mentality remains the same, as well as his iconic number zero.

“This is another new chapter, another fresh start, at the bottom again,” he said.