Westbrook puts family first, but extension talks coming
NEW YORK — The time is coming, and it may come soon, when Russell Westbrook will sit for a meeting to discuss his commitment to the Thunder.
As early as midnight, July 1, the team can meet with its star point guard to negotiate the financial terms of a contract extension, and ESPN reported this week that it will do so at the first possible moment Sunday.
Lately, though, Westbrook has spent his nights tending to a different, more important aspect of his future, and thinking about the recent past.
Often these days, he spends the wee hours with a wee Westbrook, his 6-week-old son, savoring the season gone by.
“It’s funny. I kinda do it all the time,” Westbrook said Monday after he was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player at the league’s first awards show. “I’m always up in the middle of the night with Noah at like 3:30, that’s the time we’re always up. He’s got to get fed, and I’m always up in the middle of the night with him.”
In those moments, Westbrook said, he thanks God for “the blessings that I have.” He’s a first-time father coming off one of the finest individual seasons in the history of the NBA, the greatest of his decorated eight-year career. Life is pretty good. So for now, Westbrook — whose basketball existence is built on
momentum, on propelling himself forward — is taking a beat. He’s living in the moment. The future, and a decision critical to Oklahoma City, will come soon enough.
“Man, tonight is so important for me, and obviously with the contract and stuff coming up, it’s not really on my mind at the moment honestly,” Westbrook said Monday night. “I’m just overwhelmed with a tremendous amount of blessings I’ve been able to get to be able to get this award. Man, I’m just thinking about tonight, and then after that, I’ll move on.”
The contract the Thunder can offer will be worth Westbrook’s consideration.
A new Designated Player Exception will allow OKC to offer Westbrook about $215 million over five seasons, a total that would make him the highestpaid player in the history of the NBA.
So it’s likely Westbrook has given his future at least some thought.
But on Monday, in his speech and afterward, Westbrook stressed the significance of family.
He choked back tears as he told his parents, “I can’t thank you enough.” He thanked his father for working two jobs when Westbrook and his brother, Ray, were young, and saluted his mother for “doing everything to keep our family together.”
He told his wife Nina, “you make me go.”
“My family, that’s who I play for,” Westbrook said after the awards show.
“Every night, you guys see me scream, pound my chest, whatever, I do whatever it is. Emotion, it’s for my family because they sacrifice so much for me at every level.”
This weekend, Westbrook’s basketball family will take center stage.
His decision whether to accept a five-year extension will shape the longand short-term future of the Thunder. If he elects not to, he can play 201718 on his current contract, then be eligible for the DPE again next summer.
After losing Kevin Durant in free agency a year ago, the Thunder will face difficult decisions if Westbrook chooses not to sign the extension next month. It could be faced with the prospect of trading the MVP.
On Monday, Westbrook was offering no insight into his thought process.
He’s had a different priority this offseason. He’s taken his time to savor it.
“My diaper changing, all that was on point,” Westbrook said. “My wife was real surprised how I was doing my research at an early time to make sure that when Noah came, I was ready to go and ready for him.”