The Nuggets’ Russell Westbrook has a full-circle moment with Jaylen Green in the loss to the Rockets
Wednesday night, Russell Westbrook took on a bigger load than usual for Denver Nuggets due to Nikola Jokic’s injury. Jokić is, of course, as big an absence as anyone, and with Jalen Green leading the charge for Houston Rockets with another hyper-efficient scoring night (34 points on 10-16 shooting from the field), the Nuggets fell en route to a 128-108 loss.
Midway through the game, Green was feeling himself, and maybe rightfully so considering how on fire he’s been lately. The Rocket guard finished talking some smack in Westbrook’s direction, which surprised the Nuggets guard a bit, as Green was one of the top players for the 2017 NBA MVP “Why Not” AAU team not too long ago.
“Damn boy! He used to play on my AAU team talking to me like I was a little ** kid,” Westbrook said while tweeting on the Rockets bench about Green, via @TheVestbrookEra on X, formerly Twitter.
Time flies so fast; not until 2019 when Green was part of Westbrook’s AAU team, but now the Rockets guard is a grown man on an upward trajectory in his career. Meanwhile, the Nuggets guard has gone through quite the rough patch in his career since then, though he has found new life in the Mile High City, forming an unlikely partnership with reigning MVP Jokic.
Related Denver Nuggets NewsThe article continues below
The fun thing about watching the Nuggets guard play, even in his older years, is that he has no friends on the court other than his teammates as long as there is only one second left on the clock. So even though Westbrook acts like an uncle of sorts to Green, he doesn’t back down from any challenge, hence this full-circle moment.
Jaylen Green and Russell Westbrook square off in the Rockets’ one-sided win over the Nuggets
Jalen Green is the new man since the calendar flipped to 2025. an incredible 42-point performance against the Memphis Grizzlies in which he shot 13-18 from the field, the Rockets guard couldn’t miss again Wednesday night, which proved to be the catalyst in another Houston win.
Meanwhile, Russell Westbrook may have done his best, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Nuggets from disappearing. Westbrook had 17 points and four assists on the night, far from his best in terms of his recent output, but it was always going to be tough for them to win for the second night in a row without their best player.
2025-01-16 06:28:00
