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Mics Picked Up Russell Westbrook Warning Ivica Zubac Before Outhustling Him

Westbrook still playing very hard out there.

Kyle Koster

Russell Westbrook (4) looks on during the second quarter against the LA Clippers at Ball Arena.
Russell Westbrook (4) looks on during the second quarter against the LA Clippers at Ball Arena. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
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Russell Westbrook is 36-years old and in the 17th year of his NBA career and yet he would be at the top of the list if you asked other players to name someone who plays the hardest. His motor might be the most impressive thing about his very impressive game and every once in a while he takes it for a drive to make sure his body can go from 0-60 expediently. Which he did on Wednesday night in the Denver Nuggets' convincing victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Less than eight minutes into the first quarter Westbrook found himself next to Clippers center Ivica Zubac on lane while DeAndre Jordan lined up a free throw. Feeling energetic, the Nuggets veteran warned his much taller and larger opponent that he'd better box out.

Then he showed what would happen if Zubac didn't box out, easily slipping past him for a putback lay-in.

It's very cool that Westbrook was able to call his shot here. But Zubac ... it's unclear what he was doing. The man just told you to keep your head on a swivel out there and you respond by getting torched off the line like that? Not great.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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