Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder says he is done talking about his dancing ritual before his team’s games. INQUIRER WIRES
LOS ANGELES, United States — With Oklahoma City’s first-round NBA playoff series against Dallas knotted at one-game apiece, Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook apparently wants to keep the focus on basketball, not boogying.
Dancing became a hot topic when video of Mavericks reserve forward Charlie Villanueva and rookie Justin Anderson walking into the middle of Westbrook’s usual pre-game dance routine with teammate Cameron Payne — to the obvious annoyance of Russell — went viral.
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After the Mavericks edged the Thunder 85-84 on Monday to level the series at one game apiece, Villanueva followed up with a video for Fox Sports in which he suggested that Westbrook and Payne “go to a nightclub” if they want to dance.
“Go to a club and dance. Go to ‘Dancing with the Stars,'” Villanueva said.
At Oklahoma City’s Wednesday shoot-around, Payne promised that he and Russell would “definitely” stick to their pre-game ritual, noting it’s a tradition they’ve stuck to throughout 82 regular-season games and two post-season contests.
Westbrook told reporters much the same, but as ESPN.com noted, he wasn’t interested in fanning a feud.
“Some guys want some attention but I’m not going to give the guy no more attention,” Westbrook said.
“If you guys want to talk about basketball, I’m open to that, but I’m not going to keep talking about dancing.”