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USA Today via Reuters

USA Today via Reuters

The Los Angeles Lakers were active throughout the mid-season trade window. One of their biggest trades included sending Russell Westbrook to the Utah Jazz in a three-team trade. The teams involved were the Lakers, Jazz, and Minnesota Timberwolves. The buzz around the Westbrook trade amped up after reports emerged detailing an incident in the locker room. The report stated that head coach Darvin Ham and Westbrook locked heads during the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. After this series of events transpired, chaos followed, pushing Westbrook’s wife and other NBA stars to stand up for him.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the nine-time All-Star and Darvin Ham “had a brief, heated verbal exchange”. Supposedly, Westbrook left coach Ham frustrated after lingering on the court despite “getting subbed out of the game”. Following this, reports documenting Westbrook’s attitude and behavior in the locker room emerged. After the trade occurred, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin revealed information from an unnamed source related to Westbrook and the Lakers.

Nina Westbrook’s plea online

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McMenamin stated that a source referred to Westbrook as a ‘vampire’ in the locker room. He said, “You remove a vampire from the locker room.’ That meaning a vampire sucks the blood out of the locker room and Russell Westbrook moves on.” As these comments went viral, Westbrook’s wife Nina commented on ESPN’s post.

 

 

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She wrote, “This is just sick ESPN…Russell is no vampire.” She claimed that this was slander as nothing stated by McMenamin was true. Further, she spoke about how this “slander” affected the family. She stated that her children “have to listen to their peers repeat the nasty things” platforms like ESPN have to say on-air about Westbrook.

Read More: “If the Lakers Make This Trash A** Trade”: Western Conference Side Plotting Major Deal Involving Russell Westbrook Baffles NBA Fans

Nina stated that she was left with no choice but to prepare herself for an important and difficult talk with her children. She added that she would have to explain to her kids that their father was not a vampire, and that “major news outlets only say things like that to get attention.” Following Nina’s comments, few other NBA stars stood up for the two-time All-Star.

NBA stars stand up for Russell Westbrook

Many stars came in support of Westbrook, defending him against the comments made. The 10-time All-Star Carmelo Anthony demanded to know who the source was, while Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell wrote, “Stop it”. Some others who joined in were 2020’s NBA champion Kyle Kuzma and Golden State Warriors ace Draymond Green.

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Kuzma took to Twitter and wrote, “Agreed, weirdo activity!!! Damn shame!!!!” On the other hand, Green reacted to the comment on his podcast. He said, “You better be certain that that is the case. Because that right there could really affect someone’s livelihood.”

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