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Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook does not need to speak for teammates | Marcus Hayes

Russell Westbrook diminishes Oklahoma City teammates when he tries to answer for them at press conferences.

Rick James morphed with Sean Spicer on a dais Sunday. Colorful sparks flew.

Russell Westbrook, resplendent and ridiculous, refused to let teammate Steven Adams answer a simple basketball question during a postgame press conference after their Oklahoma City Thunder lost to the Houston Rockets. The Thunder fell behind, three games to one, in the first round of the NBA Western Conference playoffs in part because the Thunder played poorly (again) when Westbrook went to the bench for a rest.

Westbrook became Mr. Triple Double this season after Kevin Durant left him for Steph Curry. Apparently, in the playoffs, Westbrook's duties have increased further: He now serves as press secretary. All questions directed toward Thunder personnel will first be reviewed by Westbrook. If he considers the questions suitable, Thunder personnel will be allowed to respond.

In the process, Westbrook will further diminish his teammates and himself.

NBA press conferences often devolve into the Theater of the Absurd - a predictable development, given the league's increasingly sycophantic coverage and the loosely structured nature of access, but the fiasco after OKC's loss to the Rockets in Game 4 was something special. Adams – a starter who just signed a $100 million contract extension – sat to Westbrook's left. Adams was asked why the team played worse when Westbrook was on the bench.

Pretty simple.

Except, with Westbrook, nothing's simple. He intercepted the question and unleashed a nonsensical, 90-second rant with a contrived accusation that the questioner (a local columnist he dislikes) sought to divide the team. The question went unanswered.

Adams seemed content that Westbrook spoke for him. Perhaps that's because Adams isn't bright enough to realize that, when Westbrook answers for him, Westbrook simply illustrates the problem that the question concerned.

The Thunder is so reliant on Westbrook that they can't even answer questions without him.

Soon, Westbrook will be tying his teammates' shoes. Maybe next game, he'll put Adams' hair in a ponytail for him.

Again, considering the NBA's delightfully unstructured and indecorous press policies, this isn't a huge deal, but it is a bit disturbing. Players answer for each other all the time but those answers usually involve sensitive, tangential subjects: trash talking, awards voting, personal indiscretions, etc. Cutting off a question that directly deals with basketball strategies is, simply, senseless.

Then again, this is Westbrook; a diva's diva if ever there was one; a man whose trademark is outrageous fashion and outrageous effort. This is just another ungracious episode after a game in which he logged a triple-double in the first half; another image in his colorful tapestry of brilliant play ... and preposterous behavior.