A near triple-double and a road victory weren't the only ways Russell Westbrook celebrated the beginning of a new NBA season this week. Prior to the Oklahoma City Thunder opener on Wednesday, Nike released a commercial featuring the point guard promoting, through the art of dance, his new Jordan Westbrook 0.2 lifestyle sneaker. Westbrook tweeted the performance on Thursday.
0.2 HITS!!!! @jumpman23 #WhyNot 🔥🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/WCFrAwEqgo
— Russell Westbrook (@russwest44) October 27, 2016
Westbrook grooves to the Lil Uzi Vert song "Do What I Want" with his brother Raynard and a handful of Thunder fans. The musical selection is a callback to Westbrook's Aug. 19 Instagram post in which he is singing along to the same tune while in a car.
Two weeks before that post, Westbrook had agreed to a three-year, $85.7 million contract extension with the Thunder. The decision to remain in Oklahoma City vaulted him into the role of undisputed franchise player after Kevin Durant's departure to the Golden State Warriors.
As ESPN's Zach Lowe noted on Sept. 30, there was always a tinge of schematic friction in Oklahoma City's offense when it came to alphas Westbrook and Durant: "The Thunder could never lose the 'your turn, my turn' vibe to their offense; after a few Westbrook pick-and-rolls, it was time to call something for Durant. Now Westbrook can play with freedom, and perhaps even more pace, since he doesn't have to wait for Durant to run around baseline picks."
In other words, Westbrook can now do what he wants.
-- Nick Ostiller
