Paul George praises value of Russell Westbrook as a teammate

Paul George, who played with Russell Westbrook for two years, isn’t surprised that Westbrook’s partnership with James Harden is succeeding.

Friday’s matchup between the Rockets and Clippers in Los Angeles will be the first time that former Thunder teammates Russell Westbrook and Paul George have played against one another since their offseason departures from Oklahoma City.

Though the Clippers and Rockets faced off last week in Houston and also in Hawaii during the preseason, George did not play in either game as he continued his recovery from offseason shoulder surgery.

When asked at Friday’s pregame shootaround about Westbrook’s new All-Star partnership in Houston with James Harden, George said he had no doubt the pairing would be successful.

His comments, via ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk:

I knew it was going to work. Russ is a winner. Russ wants to win, Russ does whatever it takes to win. My time playing with him, Russ doesn’t really have an ego. He puts his ego to the side.

He allowed me to be myself, he allowed me to be comfortable. And I had one of the best career [years] I had while playing alongside him. Russ is a heck of a teammate.

George makes a great point in the analogy to his own situation with Westbrook in Oklahoma City last season.

From the 2017-18 season to 2018-19, George took on a much larger role in the Thunder offense. His average shot attempts per game rose from 17 to 21, while his scoring and assists had corresponding jumps from 21.9 and 3.3 in 2017-18 to career-highs of 28.0 and 4.1 last year.

By contrast, Westbrook had fewer shot attempts and points, but had no complaints over his reduced usage — even though he was less than two years removed from being named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player (MVP).

It’s a similar story this year in Houston, where Westbrook’s average points and shot attempts are down slightly from a year ago. Harden leads the entire NBA with 38.4 points per game, and he’s clearly the top option for Mike D’Antoni. But Westbrook again doesn’t seem to mind, especially since the Rockets (11-4) are winning games at a high rate.

Back in July, George leveraged his way out of Oklahoma City and onto the Clippers, where he formed a new All-Star duo with reigning NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard. Both are Southern California natives, as well.

The George trade also cleared the way for Westbrook’s move to Houston, which occurred less than a week later.

But in the immediate aftermath of the offseason blockbuster, George made it clear that his exit from the Thunder had nothing to do with his feelings for Westbrook.

Friday’s nationally televised game on ESPN between Westbrook’s Rockets and George’s Clippers tips off at 9:30 p.m. Central time.

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