For Westbrook, another assist
Russell Westbrook will never forget.
The personal impact that the Boys & Girls Club had on him during his youth, when a much larger outside world could feel out of touch and far away.
Just how fortunate he is at this point in his life: International basketball superstar, NBA MVP, eighttime All-Star, scoring champ and modern king of the triple-double.
So the 31-year-old Westbrook made his first public offering to the Houston community count. Two days before Thanksgiving, the first-year Rocket proudly served dinner to members of the Jim and Barbara Morefield Boys & Girls Club in south Houston.
“Playing games and having fun and winning championships, all that stuff is great,” Westbrook said Tuesday. “But a real legacy is based on how much you do for other people.”
Westbrook — humble, easy going and sincere — opened up to the media. Then he made a circle around the room, individually thanking other servers with warm hugs and handshakes, before chil
dren and family members started streaming through a side door.
Westbrook greeted helpers with “How you doing, buddy?” and “I appreciate you.” Then he gave a fist bump to one kid, figuring out how much food to pile on a plate, before another kid immediately followed.
“I’ll never forget where I came from, how I was raised. Never,” said Westbrook, whose Rockets (11-6) entered Wednesday tied for fifth place in the Western Conference. “I always wake up every day blessed and thankful to be in the position I’m in. I don’t take it for granted.
“It’s the reason why I play so hard, why I work so hard, because I don’t take it for granted. When it’s gone, it’s gone. While I’m in it, the most important part is to be able to impact other people and that’s all I try to do, especially in a positive light.”
As a child growing up in the inner city, Westbrook said it would have been easy to think that a TV celebrity might never connect with a Boys & Girls Club member. Twelve seasons into an NBA career
that will eventually guide him to the Hall of Fame, the former UCLA standout is still working to dispel that myth.
“I grew up in the Boys & Girls Club system, growing up in L.A.,” Westbrook said. “It’s always had a great connection to me because it was always a place I learned so much from. Regardless of where you’re at in the world — what city, what state you’re in — it’s always an unbelievable experience.”
Westbrook initially was never supposed to be a college star, the No. 4 overall pick of the NBA draft or the face of a smallmarket franchise. The two words that define his foundation — Why Not? — capture a veteran guard who is still one of the most unique and aggressive athletes in the Association.
Westbrook’s off-thecourt mission is growing. The heart of a message he hopes to eventually take global: Believe in yourself.
“The most important part of today’s society is that people don’t believe in themselves,” Westbrook said. “They let what other people say around them — whether it’s social media, whether it’s their friends telling them what they can and can’t do. And I always tell myself why not you?
Why not be great? Why not be the best in the world? Why not be a doctor? Whatever you want to be, as long as it’s positive, it’s good for a change and for a cause.”
Westbrook’s sincerity shined through when he stated that he would volunteer every day if he could. Putting your name on something when you’re a star is the easy part, he said. Continuously following through and adding a personal touch are the real difference makers.
“It’s cliché. Thanksgiving, Christmas, the norm. Everybody can do that — that’s normal,” Westbrook said. “But how often can you do it every month, can you do it every quarter?”
He was taught to give back and help others, even when he didn’t have much to offer. Playing for a new team and discovering a new city, Westbrook gave back again and insisted that his first Thanksgiving dinner in Houston was just the start.
“It’s something I had to learn. It’s not something that I always had,” Westbrook said. “It’s something that I’ve done behind closed doors and never really showed the media, because I don’t do it for other people. I do it for that particular person or for those people. But it’s something now, moving forward, I’ll definitely open up more about, about myself and about what’s important to me.”