The Suns are in the middle of a highly competitive first-round series with the Clippers, but that doesn't mean Phoenix's coaches and players are unable to appreciate what Russell Westbrook is bringing to the floor.
In Los Angeles' 112-100 loss to Phoenix on Saturday, Westbrook carried the offensive load without Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, finishing with 37 points on 17-of-29 shooting. The former MVP also battled defensively, taking on any assignment thrown his way.
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During his postgame media availability, Suns coach Monty Williams told reporters that he has never understood why Westbrook is such a highly criticized player. Phoenix star Kevin Durant was then asked for his thoughts on Williams' comment.
"Somebody's gonna always find something that they don't like about you," Durant said. "Russ has been resilient his whole life. He comes to work, doesn't say much, just comes [to] hoop. When he retires, people are really gonna tell the truth about how they feel about his game.
"Right now, it's the fun thing to do — [they] make a joke out of Russ. The way he's been playing since he got with the Clippers showed everybody who he really is."
Kevin Durant and Chris Paul on criticism of Russell Westbrook 💯
— Ball Don’t Lie (@Balldontlie) April 22, 2023
KD: "When he's retired, people are gonna really tell the truth about how they feel about his game."
CP: "I feel like the only people to do that are the people who don't know basketball."pic.twitter.com/vYb1mSNAaT
Chris Paul then jumped in after Durant's response, saying that critics of Westbrook are "people who don't know basketball and don't know what it's like to compete."
"I know, for me, Russ is one of my closest friends," Paul said. "People that do that, talk crazy, probably wish they could be in that situation."
Westbrook has been doing his best to help the Clippers get a win, but the overall talent gap has been too much to overcome so far. George has missed the first four games of the series because of a knee sprain, and Leonard sat out Games 3 and 4 with his own knee sprain. It's unclear when either player could return to the starting lineup.
Los Angeles, now down 3-1, will attempt to stave off elimination when it heads back to Phoenix for Game 5 on Tuesday.
