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Russell Westbrook is the Honey Badger. Some Thunder fans nicknamed him that and when you watch this video (alert: rough language), it makes a lot of sense. And for some reason — maybe coincidentally, maybe not — honey badgers are in the new NBA Jam.
I think Perk has felt a lot of pressure to be a leader on this team, obviously assuming he was brought in to provide championship/playoff experience. I think he needs to take a step back and remember that what this team needed more than anything was consistently good play from the center position. His leadership needs to take a back seat to getting himself right and playing with focus.
Russ and Perk have the same agent. Don't you think he ensured that they cleared the air after the season?
yeah really hope its just a rumor...if it's true the perk that we wanted to add leadership in the lockeroom could end up being a major problem...
Also if it's true i think after Perk plays a full season with our team he will understand westbrooks game more...
Seems like a bunch of garbage to me. I won't give it another thought unless I see something quoted.
If Russell is the honey badger is Perkins the grizzly bear? In a mixed positive / negative light or mainly negative?
Does Perkins' reported absence from the team workout synch with this reporting or did his absence create the opportunity to speculate on this issue? I don't know.
If Perkins tied Westbrook's behavior in with his own less than stellar performance level especially in the playoffs, some or a lot, that would put Perkins and his motivations more under the microscope and might give Westbrook's reaction some basis, even if there was some basis for the overall criticism. Westbrook in his role as starting PG does have responsibility for making inside players feel involved and somewhat effective on offense, even if it doesn't necessarily mean making them as happy as they want or expect to be.
rutt-roo...
I don't have a set opinion on Mitch Lawrence. His newspaper appears mostly a rag based on limited contact with it but his stuff was usually seemed ok to me the few times I see it. I doubt he knows a lot about the Thunder. But he said this:
"As much as coach Scott Brooks chafes at GM Sam Presti's meddling, his presence in the locker room, and his demands that the Thunder continue to improve from within, the organization is a lot more concerned with how Kendrick Perkins treats Russell Westbrook.
After arriving from the Celtics last season and being looked at as the veteran leader Oklahoma City needed to take the next step to compete for a title, Perkins went hard at Westbrook with his verbal criticisms, often saying that the Thunder's playmaker couldn't match Rajon Rondo as a playmaker. Those words didn't sit well with Westbrook, who already had been criticized for shooting too much and was the subject of a benching heard-round-the-NBA when the Thunder played the Mavs in June.
The Thunder gave Perkins a new four-year deal worth $35 million, so the team is committed to him. But it would like him to ease up on Westbrook. A lot."
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/2011/09/17/2011-09-17_as_nba_moves_closer_to_canceling_training_camps_amare_stoudemire__kendrick_perki.html?page=1
Presti-Brooks friction? Westbrook-Perkins friction? I am not surprised by the latter. I am perhaps a bit more surprised in the former, or at least it getting reported.
On the Westbrook-Perkins friction does a guy who played for a championship team get credit for knowing what he is talking about and is it good that he was in Westbrook's ear this season with Westbrook going hero mode far more than in the past? On one hand I think he does know and it is good for him to address (when others weren't much) but Perkins may not have done it the right way, or a way that Westbrook could handle or would accept. That might be as much about Westbrook and the space he has gotten from everyone or near everyone in the organization to date as about Perkins. Something to watch maybe. Of course the other sides of the story aren't out yet. I'd expect there will probably be denials and minimizations. Whether they are closer to the truth or not, probably few or nobody knows outside 20-30 people.
If anybody is going to get Westbrook to change it might have to be Durant, Brooks or Presti. How much success any of them have had to date is hard to say / debatable. Whether they need to do more is debated, I think they do need to do more.
This is another point of possible concern with Perkins. Saying the right thing isn't that helpful if it not taken to heart and it affects chemistry.
Whether it has been taken to heart or sufficiently is debatable and can only be guessed at outside the team or Russell himself. Next season will say more.