Why OKC Thunder fans never lost faith Russell Westbrook would sign extension

Best kept NBA secret:

Much like Westbrook, OKC is the city who is the best kept secret in the NBA. For that reason, if there was ever a perfect marriage of team and player it is Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

While I kept telling friends, associates, peers and doubters Russell Westbrook wasn’t leaving they kept asking me how I was so sure. In truth, it was simply a gut feeling. That and the fact Russell Westbrook made every indication via his own words he would be back. For a man of so few words that was telling. Moreover, Russell Westbrook if nothing else is someone who marches to his own drum.  He never cared what others thought outside of his family, teammates and the OKC community.  At the end of the day, those are the people who matter to him.

The perfect marriage of team – player:

For a community who were shook to their core last offseason Westbrook’s commitment is huge. Not only does it keep a top five (arguably top three) player on their team, debatably it does something far more important. While Kevin Durant may be deemed by most as the better player, his actions have proven he is not the better person, particularly for the humble people of this small market  Russell Westbrook is that person. The rest of the NBA  may just be learning how special Russell Westbrook is both on and off the court. For the OKC community, they’ve been aware of that fact for years.

In fact there is a certain symmetry to Westbrook’s extension. Though Nick Collison has spent his entirely with the organization he was drafted and spent his first four NBA seasons as a Seattle SuperSonic.

But, like the franchise, Russell Westbrook approaches his first decade in the NBA and with the OKC Thunder. Should he play out his five season extension, it’s not a stretch to think the franchise will reward him with yet another contract.

In the current era of the NBA,  spending the entirety of your career playing for one team has become the rare exception rather than the norm.

Then again, that description is also aptly fitting of Russell Westbrook.