Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
Russell Westbrook was not in the mood to chat with reporters in the midst of a skid the Nuggets fell victim to at a pivotal point in the season. The NBA took notice, and the guard channeled his inner Marshawn Lynch when he was essentially forced to speak to the media after Denver lost its fourth game in a row.
Most professional athletes are contractually obligated to address the media due to the terms of the collective bargaining agreements they’re required to abide by. With that said, there are plenty of situations where they do everything in their power to avoid those interactions if they don’t outright refuse to participate.
Marshawn Lynch was not exactly a huge fan of the press during his time in the NFL, as he was forced to fork over more than $1 million in fines for refusing to speak to reporters during his career. He did agree to participate in the media day ahead of Super Bowl XLIX but famously took advantage of a loophole by responding to every single question with “I’m here so I don’t get fined.”
That brings us to Russell Westbrook, who is nearing the end of his first season with a Nuggets team that seemed to be set up for a solid seed in the playoffs only to see things take a very interesting turn courtesy of a four-game losing streak that could result in Denver being forced to participate in the play-in round due to the insanely tight nature of the Western Conference postseason picture.
Westbrook dodged a number of postgame interviews after that downward spiral began, and according to Adam Mares of DNVR, the NBA threatened to fine him if he kept ducking that obligation.
While the guard technically complied in the wake of Denver’s 125-120 loss to the Pacers, he didn’t go out of his way to give the reporters he spoke to any quotes to work with when you consider he responded to every question directed his way with some variation of “I don’t know.”
The Nuggets have since parted ways with head coach Mike Malone and GM Calvin Booth with just three games to go in the regular season, and it’s safe to say the vibes in Denver are currently the polar opposite of immaculate.