It was immediately clear that in the aftermath of the Sacramento Kings' NBA-worst 50th loss on Thursday night, Russell Westbrook had little interest in going through a regular post-game press conference.
What started as a routine response when the veteran guard answered a question about the Kings' late-season goals by saying "going out, compete," quickly turned into an airing of grievances toward local media covering the last-place squad.
It began with Westbrook turning the question back at reporters, asking, "What y'all think, though? Because y'all got answers and always be talking ... you guys have a lot of opinions on how we do what we do."
The Kings extended their lead in the reserve standings with Thursday's 133-123 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, which also marked their third consecutive defeat.
Westbrook then began pointing to specific media members, asking, "Where do you get your context from? Are you at practice? Are you at our film sessions? Are you anywhere around the building?"
The former MVP then turned the attention toward himself.
"Do you know me? You don't know me, but you make a lot of comments as if you do know me," Westbrook added. "I see it."
The interaction continued, and when Westbrook was asked to elaborate on what coverage he didn't appreciate, he responded by saying, "I don't want to go down that route, but I'm asking you. You have a lot of things to say, so this is your time."
Westbrook joined the Kings in October via free agency, landing him back in his native California for the 37-year-old's 18th NBA season. He's quickly turned into a go-to leader as the oldest player on the roster.
"Your guys' job is to talk about the game, what's happening in the game. Not stir up a bunch of ... stuff that is not accurate," the nine-time all-star continued. "And that's my problem."
It became evident that Westbrook felt coverage by local media skewed beyond the team's on-court efforts and began critiquing the team's motivations.
"We got our job, we come do our job the best way we know how to," he continued. "Wins, losses, it's all part of the game ... but don't make false context comments on people as individuals, who they are, what they do, what they're thinking. ... If you don't know, don't say nothing you know nothing about."
Aside from his vocal role off the court, Westbrook has been a steady contributor on the hardwood as well, averaging 15.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 1.3 steals through 59 appearances (53 starts). He recently helped Sacramento end a season-worst 16-game skid, putting up 25 points, seven assists and steal in a win against the Memphis Grizzlies.
"As a leader of this team, it's my job to speak up for the guys in the locker room. We talk about it, they see it, I hear it. ... You guys are making false comments about our team and what we're doing here and I don't appreciate that. So my ask is that you respect what we do and we'll respect what you do."
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