Russell Westbrook’s positive impact as a teammate and leader is unquestionable. During his career, Russ has never went behind his teams’ back to use journalists as a cudgel to passive aggressively create a media narrative for himself. He’s never passively aggressively tried to get his teammates shipped off of his teams. Not in OKC, not in Houston, not in Washington, and not in LAC. In fact, he’s done the opposite.
Khelcey Barrs III was a 15 year old basketball phenom from Leuzinger High School in Lawndale, California. He was destined for greatness, with a scholarship offer from DePaul and dreams of attending UCLA with his childhood friend and teammate Russell Westbrook. On May 9, 2004, he debuted in the Drew League and was the best three-point shooter and shot blocker on his team. Tragically, he died on the floor of the Los Angeles Southwest College gymnasium due to an enlarged heart. His death had a profound impact on Russ.
What was Russ’ response in light of this tragedy?
> Westbrook takes the court with KB3—Barrs’ initials and jersey number—printed on a rubber bracelet that he wears on his shooting wrist. Several of his signature shoes feature a small “RIP” printed on one tongue and “KB3” on the other. After Barrs died, Westbrook took over doing his chores at his grandmother’s house until he went off to UCLA. Barrs used to wash his younger sister Marilyn’s hair once a week, so in stepped Westbrook to fill the role. To this day, Marilyn considers Westbrook to be another big brother. Westbrook has mentioned Barrs in several interviews, but mostly talks about him in generalities
[Source](https://www.vice.com/en/article/4xzq49/russell-westbrook-the-legacy-of-khelcey-barrs)
Just another example of the man being a *figurative* vampire in the locker room.
edit: for all of those who are saying the equivalent of “it’s possible to be a good person off the court but not on the court” please consider, Russ has had but a great relationship with his teammates in every team, even with most on the Lakers. And, as far as we know, Westbrook has thrown 0 bowls of soup at his teammates or coaches. What could have happened for this usually upstanding teammate and leader to act so out of character?
by deadweightboss
28 Comments
Westbrook is a good dude, I think he’s just in the twilight of his career and is learning how to face that fact
Some people just have the right stuff in them from childhood, Russ is clearly one of them.
Westbrook seems like a good dude but come on man the PR is crazy rn
i’m a westbrook hater *on the court* but bro is one of the best guys off the court and deserves nothing but praise. Same for Chris Paul too. People treat him like he’s Isiah Thomas or something.
Everything on the court should be fair game though.
Breaking news, people can be good people outside of basketball but shitty on the court
Westbrook propaganda is full effect today
Dude still sucks at basketball 🤷♂️
Bruh no one gives a fuck if he’s a good dude or not off the court. I’m allowed to call him a bad basketball player when he plays basketball badly. Russ fans are something else dawg I swear.
no offence but… this is getting too much now lol the majority with sense and not following the hive, know Russ is a good dude. I don’t think all this is needed imo
**Edit;** never-mind, this article actually came out in 2017
What’s with all this pro-Westbrook propaganda right now?
Is Russ running for Pope or something? Why are all these stories coming out all of a sudden
u_MITWestbrook – what’s his dandruff/scoops of shampoo ratio?
Let the PR flow. It looks like some PR agency got the contract for a few millions to push these pieces, take over /r/nba.
What the fuck is this shit..
Getting called a vampire & now we are getting these super fluff pieces as an apology to Russ.. Lmao..
I don’t care how good a person Russ is, I’ve hated watching him play basketball for YEARS. He’s an NBA player, and that’s the thing that matters most. He absolutely is a “vampire” on the court. Idk about in the locker room
Tomorrow on ESPN:
When Westbrook was a child he would help with the dishes when visiting his grandparents
This dude been on like 5 teams and only when it’s the Lakers is there this tsunami of “Westbrook is a good person!” stories lol.
We said he sucks at basketball and makes too much money, not that he’s an evil villain.
We’re going to see a lot of these pro-Russ posts after his horrific tenure in Los Angeles, because now the narrative has swung. Nobody ever thought Russ was a bad person off the court, not one person, but he does bring negative value today as a player. Those two things can be mutually exclusive.
Westbrook is a good dude but is his PR team hijacking r/NBA for some reason?
Russ is a good dude
I think we rag on Westbrooks on the court antics so much that people bring up how good he is off the court too balance it out
I know this is Westbrook PR propaganda at this point, but i’m here for it. love the dude
This is just literal propaganda at this point
The Russ PR campaign begins NOW
I thought vampire just meant walking dead or negative on the court? Like, he’s walking dead because he’s going to be going eventually and his turnovers and bad shots lead to a loss of momentum or suck energy from the team.
I never have ever thought he was a bad dude. Guys freaking awesome as a human being. And the kind of athlete I wish everyone was. Inspirational for all the good reasons. Just … not good at playing basketball at this level anymore and on a bad contract. I wish it weren’t the case.
Nothing but admiration and respect for his past glories. I hope he gets a chip one day, but it’s going to have to be like Vince Carter’s chip. As a piece and a vet finding a niche on a great team with younger talent.
Between this and the other thread, Russ’ PR team putting in OT.
What’s with the Westbrook posts?
This is great but where is this all coming from
What’s with all these random Russ praise posts lmao?