Russell Westbrook has a basketball resume that can stack up against the best in the sport, but his lack of championship success prevents him from being one of the “GOAT” players. Nonetheless, individually, the former league MVP is still one of the icons of the game today, and former teammate Kendrick Perkins acknowledges this.
Perkins and Westbrook crossed paths being teammates in their prime during their time with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the early 2010s. Both players were starters on an OKC squad that went to the 2012 NBA Finals, only to be halted by the LeBron James and Dwyane Wade ‘Heatles’ team.
Years later, Perkins started his media career after retiring in 2018, while Westbrook is on his fifth team since leaving the Thunder in 2019.

In a recent post on X, Perkins showed love to his former teammate by reposting a compilation of Westbrook’s video highlights.
“One of the Greatest Point Guards to ever lace them up,” captions Perkins.
One of the Greatest Point Guards to ever lace them up. https://t.co/jnpUOv1Onf
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) July 25, 2024
Westbrook is set to be waived by the Utah Jazz this offseason and is expected to sign with the Denver Nuggets to join Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray in their quest to bring back an NBA championship to Colorado.

Kendrick Perkins weighs in on Denver Nuggets acquisition of Russell Westbrook
The Denver Nuggets made a bold move to get Russell Westbrook in free agency, and basketball fans are skeptical about the fit on the team. In his role as an ESPN NBA analyst, Kendrick Perkins gives his honest opinion that the Nuggets slightly improved their roster.
“You got to remember, they’re in the powerful Western Conference right now. That still doesn’t put them ahead of, you know, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Dallas Mavericks, I would even give a slight nod to be honest to the Los Angeles Lakers,” said Perkins.
However, the former NBA champion also feels that there are more move that the Nuggets need to do especially filling in the void of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope left.
“I think they still got to find, fill that void of losing KCP (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope). He was so valuable to what he brought to the table for them on both ends of the floor, being able to be a knockdown shooter on one end, a lockdown defender on the other. They have to replace him before I could get them to be serious in the Western Conference,” Perkins adds.