Russell Westbrook was balancing on one leg while extending a medicine ball above his head. He was months from fatherhood, a Most Valuable Player award, a contract extension, a cast of new teammates, a sluggish start to his 10th season, and a Westbrookian surge.
On Jan. 4, 2017, he was just in Charlotte.
Westbrook bent forward at the hip and leaned over as Thunder athletic trainer Mike Davis periodically poked at his flexed right leg. “Mike you ain't gonna get me,” Westbrook said. “I ain't gonna let it happen.”
Nearly a year later, Westbrook is wrapping a tireless 2017 with that same determination, one which has carried him through one of the most interesting calendar years of his career.