Before his customary sprint onto the court, Russell Westbrook made an out-of-the ordinary move. He walked over to the Washington bench and spent a few moments with his former head coach Scott Brooks.
Minutes before, Brooks received a standing ovation from the crowd at Chesapeake Energy Arena. But Brooks, ever the competitor, wanted to beat his former team.
“Sure I'd like to win, but I wanted to win the last game against the Kings,” Brooks said. “I want to beat the Spurs and Brooklyn and Denver and Milwaukee the next week, and Orlando. I want to beat them all.