Kevin Love was the most sought-after high school player in his class and Russell Westbrook was a late-bloomer who didn’t have many scholarship offers. They both wound up at UCLA and the rest is history. Although the Bruins didn’t win a national championship with those two — how is that possible? — the experience left a big impression on Love. In a recent essay for The Players Tribune, Love spoke glowingly about his time with fabled coach John Wooden and also discussed how he and Westbrook grew close:
The first teammate I met after I got to campus was Russell Westbrook. I was on Bruin Walk. I was fresh out of high school and was rocking a new buzz-cut (the first haircut in years my mom hadn’t given me). All I knew then was basketball … which is another way of saying I didn’t have any style.
Russ, who was going into sophomore year, had both style and confidence … through the roof.
“Hey man,” he said. “Where’d you get that backpack?”
People were stopping to listen in to Russ digging into me. Russ always attracted a crowd, even then. He was smiling ear to ear. I could tell he didn’t necessarily mean it as a compliment.
Before I could say anything, Russ went on.
“Damn, how big are those Jordans?”
He was already testing me. I knew I was going to like this guy.
Russ and I ended up being roommates on the road. I think we had an immediate bond because we had common goals coming out of high school. We’d lie around our hotel room talking about making it to the NBA.
Sometimes Russ could be a stubborn roommate. We butted heads because we were competitive about everything. We competed at video games. We played hundreds of hands of a card game called “13.” (I still maintain that I’m up by one point.) We showed up to the gym early (he was somehow always there before me) to lift, study film and get in some extra shooting.
We were even competitive over the temperature of the room.
You know the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode where Vivica’s character is sick in bed and Larry keeps adjusting the thermostat? That was me and Russ.
Our thermostat battles would go something like this….
“Minimum 74,” he’d say.
I needed the room cold. Around 68 was perfect.
At night, Russ would jump up from bed and turn the dial way up — and then five minutes later I would sneak over and turn it back down.
One time I offered a compromise — “How ‘bout 71 degrees?”
“Seventy-three,” Russ replied. “Final offer.”
See what I mean? Dude is stubborn.
Over time, I got to see another side of Russ, too. Like the first time he talked to me about a girl named Nina. She was on the women’s basketball team. He would go on and on about her.
