Oklahoma City point guard Russell Westbrook (R) drives past Los Angeles Lakers' Jordan Clarkson. (Photo : Getty Images)
Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook had recently dismissed rumors that he is interested in playing for the Los Angeles Lakers when his current contract expires in 2017.
The 27-year-old Westbrook, who played for the UCLA Bruins from 2006 to 2008, had always been anticipated to end up with his hometown team of Lakers since he entered the NBA as the fourth overall pick of the 2008 draft by the then Seattle Supersonics.
Now eight years into his pro career, the five-time NBA All-Star is still with the same franchise, currently in Oklahoma City and are presently called the Thunder, and there are still speculations that he will play for the Hollywood squad sooner or later.
Fansided reported that Westbrook has "shot down interest of playing" LA now or anytime in the future, unless of course if OKC will trade him to the Lakers before Thursday, which will most certainly not going to happen.
With team-leading partner Kevin Durant set to hit unrestricted free agency this summer, and loud rumors that he could end up playing for the Lakers next season, reporters had been continuously asking Westbrook if he considers following the 2014 NBA MVP to Tinseltown if such thing pushes through.
"Nah, I like where I am now. Oklahoma City is a great place for me," Westbrook simply responded, which is a professional thing to say for sure.
While he admitted that he grew up being a Laker fan and rooting for the Lakers ever since he was a child, as per Bleacher Report, he was not about to say less of the franchise he is playing for at the moment.
A few NBA analysts, one of them ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, have declared that perhaps the main reason why Durant could consider signing with the Lakers this summer is because of the very real possibility that Westbrook will follow him a year later.
The 2015 NBA scoring champion and NBA All-Star Game MVP is already a superstar on his own even without Durant and so it would be hard to predict what he will do when he hits unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2017.
Lakers fans will definitely get excited about the thought of having OKC's one-two punch move to LA in the future, but for now all of these rumors remain as such until Durant makes the big decision five months from now.
