After Monday evening's Lakers loss at San Antonio, Russell Westbrook was asked about his wife Nina's social media post:
"I think for one, I 100 percent stand behind my wife and how she's feeling," said Westbrook. "It's not just about this year. Right now, she's reached a point and my family has reached a point where it's really weighing on them. And it's very unfortunate, just for me personally, because this is just a game ... This is not end all, be all. When it comes to basketball, I don't mind the criticism of missing and making shots. But the moment is becomes where my name is getting shamed, it becomes an issue."
Westbrook and his wife have three children: twin 3-year-old daughters, and a 4-year-old son. After conferences at his son's school, Westbrook has been thinking about some of the criticism he's seeing differently.
"It really kind of hit me the other day," he explained. "Me and my wife were at teacher-parent conferences for my son. And the teacher told me, 'Noah, he's so proud of his last name. He writes it everywhere. He writes it on every thing. He tells everybody and walks around and says, 'I'm Westbrook.' ...And I kind of sat there in shock and it hit me like, 'Damn. I can no longer allow people...' Westbrick for example, to me, is now shaming. It's shaming my name, my legacy for my kids. It's a name that means, not just to me, but to my wife, to my mom, my dad, the ones that kind of paved the way for me. That's just one example. That kind of hit myself and my wife in a place where it's not great."
Westbrook was asked if things have been worse this season.
"It's been like this for my entire career," he responded. "I've been blessed and super thankful for the ones around me and the ones that support me, but it's really the shaming of my name, the shaming of my character, the shaming of who I am as a person is, to me, not warranted. I haven't done anything to anybody. I haven't hurt anyone. I haven't done anything but play basketball a way that people might not like. And this is just a game. Just a game. This is not my entire life. I think that's the ultimate thing that's been for me. I don't like to harp on it or want it out there. But once it starts to affect my family, my wife."
Being subject to certain types of criticism has made Westbrook reconsider whether or not he wants his family to come to games.
"Even today, my mom said something about it," he said. "It affects them even going to games. Like, I don't even want to bring my kids to the game because I don't want them to hear people calling their dad nicknames and other names for no reason because he's playing the game that he loves. And it's gotten so bad where my family don't even want to go to home games, to any game, because of -- not just the media across the globe use their platforms to constantly shame, shame me -- and it's just super unfortunate, man. And it's super upsetting to me. I'm at a point where I'm going to continue to address it. It's just unfortunate."