“I’m pretty sure those guys know the history with us and probably amped him up a little bit more.” Anthony Davis firmly believes that the Nuggets used Russell Westbrook’s dislike for the Lakers as motivation for him to go off during Saturday’s game. Well, Russ’ tenure with the Lakers was disastrous for both parties and ended on a very sour note. And it looked like the former MVP was out for blood this weekend as he was spotted cursing out AD and the LA crowd multiple times.

As per a leaked audio of Westbrook’s heated NSFW trash talk, he got into a verbal altercation with AD while he was on the bench. “Soft A—N—-. You’re soft.” Russ remarked, to which Davis replied, “Stop fouling.” And the Nuggets guard continued to point fingers at AD’s physicality, “You’re soft, n—-.” Obviously, Davis has a history of being injury prone ever since he moved to LA and he has played 70+ games in a season wearing the Lakers uniform only once, which was last year. Many believe Davis is “soft” because of it, which Westbrook used in his trash talk.

But Russ’ verbal assault did not end there as he was also seen interacting with the LA crowd. After a fan yelled “F— out of here” at him during a play, the former MVP responded by blowing him a kiss. Moreover, he later confronted the fan telling him, “I ain’t gonna curse at you. Don’t curse at me. You feel me? Enjoy the game.” Westbrook also showed off his long range shooting with a dagger three, followed by an emotional outburst, “Boom B—-. What the f— are they gonna say now?” As the Nuggets headed toward a 25-point blowout victory, Russ even told the fans to “Go Home” as part of his trash talk. But AD knew that’s how Russ operates.

Anthony Davis praises Russell Westbrook’s “Disruptive” nature despite heated altercation

Well, Westbrook’s passion worked to his advantage as he finished with a 14-point double-double with eleven assists. Moreover, he got his revenge amid the heated LA reunion as his team made light work of the Lakers and went home with a win. And AD credited the former MVP for his contribution in the win, “I mean, just for their team, he brings that energy. You know how Russ plays; he plays hard and made some shots and some steals.”

Davis continued, “You know, when he comes in the game, he’s very disruptive and brings that juice for them, especially when he’s making plays. So, I think that kind of helped them a lot tonight.” Sure enough, Russ has been solid since joining the Nuggets as he is averaging 11.3 points and over six assists. Moreover, his passion really lifts the entire team’s energy throughout the game. That’s exactly what the Lakers needed from him when he played for them for nearly two seasons. However, it proved to be a major fit problem, which led to Russ getting heavily criticized.

It got to a point that he even began losing the joy of playing basketball, which only returned after he joined the Clippers, “I felt like the joy (was) back (of) having fun playing again.” So, it is understandable why Westbrook is always extra animated and passionate whenever he returns to the Crypto.com Arena.