Russell Westbrook regularly makes our jaws drop when he’s on the court. But arguably his most shocking move came when he was only 10 years old.
In a story Westbrook told on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Westbrook revealed that he actually passed up an opportunity to get Michael Jordan’s autograph, and an opportunity to snap a pic with His Airness too.
It happened when Westbrook attended a Michael Jordan basketball camp in Santa Barbara, CA. At the end of the camp, MJ was there to sign something and take a picture with every kid. But Westbrook had other priorities.
“Usually at the end of the camp every kid, every team, you could bring something for Michael Jordan to sign, you had to stand in line and be ready to go,” Westbrook said on The Tonight Show.
“So when my team was up, my parents gave me a basketball to get signed, I don’t know what I was thinking [laughs]. When it was time I was in the middle of a game, I was playing pickup with other kids. My coach was like, ‘Come on, come on, come on. You’re gonna miss the opportunity to get a picture with Michael Jordan and an autograph with Michael Jordan.’ Myself said, ‘Ahh, don’t worry, I’m okay, I don’t need it right now.’
“So I didn’t get a picture with Michael Jordan, I didn’t get an autograph with Michael Jordan. I literally didn’t get in line. I kept playing basketball, just kept hooping, just kept hooping. Then when camp was over, when I got home, my mom and dad was like, ‘Did you get the ball signed?’ And I literally was just like, ‘No, I didn’t. I was playing a pickup game.'”
NBA
While that may seem like an incredible missed opportunity, maybe it was some insight into the player Westbrook was set to become.
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