USA TODAY International Edition
Future bright for intact Thunder
OKLAHOMA CITY – Russell Westbrook’s recruiting pitch isn’t so much a pitch at all. Flashy dinners or getaways are not the Thunder superstar’s style. That’s too much of a change to his personality. “I’ve always done the same thing I’ve always been doing,” Westbrook says. “For me, I’m a real person. I’m real. I keep it 100, straightforward. I don’t go out and be someone I’m not just to get somebody to stay, because that’s considered being fake, and for me, I be myself at all times. It’s important to do that, and that’s part of being a leader, part of being a leader of this team, an organization, and that’s what I do.” Westbrook is a big reason Paul George shocked the NBA by re-upping with the Thunder for four years and $137 million as July’s free agency opened in a glamorous party on the outskirts of Oklahoma City. As the Thunder prepare to open the season Tuesday, they know their future remains bright with George and Westbrook, a duo together for the foreseeable future. Their competitive window remains open thanks to their simple pitch of comfort. “I just developed these really good relationships here, almost feeling like I’ve been here for a while,” George says. “And then just over the course of the whole season, it just steamrolled, just got better and better, and here I am.” Last season, George averaged 21.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2 steals per game for the Thunder. He was selected to his fifth All-Star Game. He developed a strong bond with Westbrook, even as the up-and-down season ended in disappointment with a second consecutive year of losing in the opening round of the postseason. Naturally, that led to speculation he would leave, head for his hometown Los Angeles and reopen a wound in a state not quite over the departure of Kevin Durant in 2016. But something else happened. George’s growing up as a player in Indiana helped the Thunder. Oklahoma City’s small market and community aspect appealed to him one year after he informed the Pacers he would sign with the Lakers in free agency. Each game is sold out. Fans live and die with each game. Players are heroes in the community. The glitz and glamour of Los Angeles suddenly didn’t matter. The Lakers never got a chance to deliver their pitch. “I think me starting off in a small market helped with feeling what small markets bring as far as a community standpoint,” says George, 28. “And then again, the city being behind this team, the team being behind the community, it was just hand in hand. Then just being a part of this team, it just felt right.” George can be himself again, the elite defender and scorer the Thunder covet. The questions about his future are gone. “For the past two or three years, there’s always been speculations or people deciding what my future should be,” George says. “I know where I’m at and the world knows where I’m at. So yeah, in a sense I can go back to just playing ball and enjoying the game.” And playing with Westbrook helps. His up-tempo, relentless style drew George on the court. Off the court, they became good friends. It’s why Thunder players felt good about the chances George remained. “Of course, you could see that the chemistry that him and Russ shared, him and Coach (Billy) Donovan shared and the rest of the team that we all had with him,” Thunder forward Patrick Patterson says. “There’s always that chemistry, that friendship, that bond that we shared. But at the end of the day, you don’t know what’s going on in his head. He’s the only one who knows.” Veteran Raymond Felton, who resigned for one year, also said he never doubted George would return. He understood the process George had to go through but always knew Oklahoma City could become his home. The Thunder now get a chance to build something special on the court. Westbrook remains a triple-double machine, though he enters the season coming off a fourth knee surgery. Steven Adams continues to develop into a powerful center. Andre Roberson is working his way back from an injury to remain an elite defender. The Thunder retained Jerami Grant and Felton but shed the contract of Carmelo Anthony and rebuilt the bench. That keeps the Thunder in line to pay a league-high $73.7 million in luxury tax at season’s end. But it’s a hefty price they’ll pay for a title contender. George and Westbrook will be better together just based on familiarity. “Because of Russell’s investment here over his entire career, who he is as a leader, I think he and Paul really developed a very, very close and good relationship that I think they work through those things,” Donovan says. “So I would say they’re probably at a better place this year starting the season than they were a year ago because they really just didn’t know each other in terms of that kind of familiarity. So that part of it I think is positive.” This all started with George returning and spurning the Lakers. Most would never dream that possible. But the Thunder did when they traded for George a year ago. Westbrook had chosen to remain after the loss of Durant. Why wouldn’t another star player? “I was just open, very open about the situation,” George says. “For me to give everything I had and for me to be committed, I had to be open about coming here, otherwise I would have been not giving the team every bit of effort or it just would have been something that I was holding back. “I just told myself to start the process off, just give this team everything I have and see what happens.”