Jan 9, 2020

  • Tim MacMahonESPN Staff Writer

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    • Joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009
    • Covers the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks
    • Appears regularly on ESPN Dallas 103.three FM

OKLAHOMA Urban center -- The Oklahoma City Thunder had never earlier played a tribute video for the return of a onetime player. Merely Russell Westbrook is certainly unique.

The video played before the Houston Rockets' starting lineup was introduced Thursday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Deafening cheers and a familiar dirge drowned out the introductions of the other Rockets starters.

"MVP! MVP! MVP!" the fans roared after Westbrook sprinted from the Rockets' bench to the opposite sideline, gestured toward the crowd and and so held i finger upward in the air equally his Houston teammates surrounded him near the free throw line.

"Man, some things you can't put into words, just considering I've been hither so long, and so many smashing memories, great people," Westbrook said. "Obviously, the best fans in the world, because they come up with it, and tonight they came with it.

"The organization, Sam [Presti], Mr. [Clay] Bennett, they practice an amazing task of merely making y'all feel home. And I felt similar I was abode."

The Rockets' 113-92 loss didn't put a damper on a night Westbrook called "very, very special."

The cheers from the sellout crowd began even before the tribute video, which featured a diversity of Westbrook highlights; fiery, on-court celebrations; clips of his customs involvement; memorable Instagram posts; and famous quotes from his remarkable run as the Thunder'due south bespeak guard.

Westbrook as well followed his former routine as he stepped onto the floor for the opening tip, dapping up the Thunder's employees at the scorer's table before firing an imaginary arrow into the upper deck and sprinting to the corner and working the crowd into a frenzy over again.

"That was dope. Plain, we got smacked, but information technology was a dope environment," said Rockets star James Harden, who spent the first three seasons of his career as the Thunder's sixth man before being traded to Houston. "Oklahoma City, as usual, showed mad dear to Russell and everything he's washed for those 11 years he was here. Obviously, an unbelievable fan base, and it was merely a beautiful thing to see."

The Thunder and the franchise's fans also gave Paul George a warm welcome when he returned to Oklahoma City with the LA Clippers earlier this season, showing pictures of him on the arena big screens every bit the crowd applauded. Information technology was a stark dissimilarity to the venomous temper for Kevin Durant's render with the Aureate State Warriors.

The reception for George, who pushed for a merchandise to the Clippers after two years in Oklahoma City, was polite. The reception for Westbrook, whose ensuing trade to Houston for Chris Paul and hereafter outset-circular picks was more of a mutual determination, was passionate.

Westbrook walked into the loonshit as a visitor for the commencement time, wearing a blackness T-shirt from his clothing line that read "Cypher REGRETS" across the breast. On the back, in that location was a list of statistics from his Oklahoma Urban center tenure, with "1 Squad" at the height, his Thunder totals of 11 seasons, 821 games, 28,330 minutes, 18,859 points, half-dozen,897 assists, five,760 rebounds, 138 triple-doubles, 8 All-Star appearances, one MVP and "0 REGRETS" circled at the bottom.

Those aforementioned phrases and statistics were on the special-edition Hashemite kingdom of jordan WhyNot Zer0.3 shoes Westbrook wore during the game. The shoes were black and absolute by the Thunder's orange and blue, and also had "THANK Yous" amid the lettering.

"I don't regret one thing being here in Oklahoma Metropolis," said Westbrook, who had a game-high 34 points on 14-of-26 shooting in the loss. "I don't regret signing dorsum. I don't regret staying here. I don't regret anything that I did hither. I feel like I left everything out on the floor every single night and did what I could for the city."

The mutual love continued postgame. Westbrook exchanged hugs and handshakes at midcourt with ex-teammates such as Steven Adams, Terrance Ferguson and Dennis Schroder, equally well every bit immature Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who was the centerpiece of the return in the George trade.

Westbrook and then made his manner toward the baseline by the Thunder demote, smiling and playfully interacting with Thunder coaches and support staffers before hugging Bennett, the franchise'due south majority possessor.

Westbrook stopped again on his way dorsum toward the visitors tunnel, hugging and chatting with Paul, who has led Oklahoma City to a surprising 22-16 record.

"The energy was amazing -- our offset nationally televised game and Russ being dorsum," said Paul, whose 18-bespeak, 6-rebound, 5-assistance, 4-steal operation was highlighted by dribbling between Rockets reserve center Isaiah Hartenstein's legs before hitting a floater for his last basket. "The crowd is always dandy, but nosotros knew information technology was going to be a different energy tonight with Russ' first game back here. You take to go excited."

The fans remaining from the sellout crowd -- many wearing Westbrook jerseys or the T-shirts from his wear line -- gave him 1 final continuing ovation as he walked off the floor, his right index finger pointed toward the rafters again.

"Information technology's special," Westbrook said. "It'due south a very, very special thing that meant a lot to me, honestly. Coming back here, only making me experience that I was very, very appreciated."