Ends and Frenemies - Russell Westbrook comes to Denver

We all had one. My first real sports frenemy was Lyle Alzado. The first ever sports star to give this wide-eyed kid an autograph eventually found himself on teams that weren’t the Denver Broncos. When he moved to the Cleveland Browns, you could root for him when he wasn’t playing against you, but then he moved to the Raiders.

Having a hero in the silver and black is one thing. Realizing the guy you idolized was always a little too far over the top, even when he was wearing orange and blue, was quite another. Three Mile Lyle had that mushroom cloud over his head even when I was screaming for him, it was just a lot tougher to watch him be that a–hole to my guys. I finally understood the sports villain.

They dot the landscape of your favorite teams, and you’ve had at least one or two you’ve had to come to complex terms with in loving if you’re into sports much at all. The sports equivalent of that friend you’d introduce by saying, “he’s really a good guy once you get to know him”. The Bill Romanowskis. Hell, even the Christian Brauns. Somewhere on that spectrum of the guy that your fans are most passionate for, and the opposition seems just as passionate against. The one you’re half smiling about when you say, “man, I hate that guy”.

The face at the top of that list for me for the better part of the last 15 years has been one Russell Westbrook III, killer of dreams, and slayer of Rocky halfcourt shots.

Russ has willingly and happily played the villain, not only to a full generation of Nuggets fans, but to the fanbases of the other 29 teams he is playing against. Denver has just seen so much of him as the majority of his career was in our Division, and only one of his years outside the Western Conference. Russ has gotten in the heads of so many fanbases it now tends to follow him in less fortunate ways for those who haven’t forgotten the moments he was crowing on the way out the door. When he’s back by, he’s often greeted by a voice or two who are saying things that no one should have to hear.

And while Westbrook is both the guy Nuggets fans have loved to hate and in the twilight of his career, he’s also one of the best solutions left on the market to a hole that looked to be an opening, and has recently become their most obvious area of need. He may have been an easy enemy for years, but for Denver Nuggets of 2024-25, he was the obvious means to an end. With the departure of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and dismissal/trade of Reggie Jackson, and subsequent promotion of Christian Braun to the starting lineup, there was a sudden lack of depth in the Denver’s backup backcourt. The lackluster play from possible sophomore Jalen Pickett has been slightly offset by the pleasant surprise of Trey Alexander, but the projected backup to Jamal Murray in this lineup suddenly looked a lot more like a question mark than Pick.

Enter one of the league’s surest spark plugs, even in his 16th season. While Russ had one of his worst offensive seasons last year with the Clippers in terms of output, it was also one of his most efficient in terms of defense, and how he came to the points he got. Russ accepted a bench role willingly for the first time in his career, and contributed meaningfully to the Clippers success, a loss they seemed as sad to experience as the Nuggets were KCP or the prior year’s Bruce Brown. The new laws of the second apron are forcing teams into tough decisions they’d rather not make, and exposing some of the tough decisions teams have made along the edges. While a lot of teams have had to restock in ways they hadn’t anticipated, they are also all playing on one of the most level fields in years. While no almost no one is exactly where they wanted to be, the Nuggets at least landed the couple of folks they targeted.

It’s true that for years Russ has been “mean”. But if he comes through as part of a better and more stable bench for these Nuggets, he’s also a means to an end. Should he be a key cog in bringing another title to the Mile High City, you could see all being forgiven between Westbrook and the Nuggets fans of old. He and Nikola Jokic have become compatriot and friends enough over the years for Russ to buy the Joker a present. Russ may also get his 200th triple-double in a Nuggets uniform. He, Joker, and Jamal may give the league its first ever triple-triple-double some game. One way or another, these enemies became frenemies and are pretty sure to now become friends. Welcome to Denver, Russell Westbrook. Who the hell ever thought we’d see you here?