Westbrook was never one of my favorite players during most of his prime, but seeing how Westbrook has handled his last few years helped me gain a lot of respect for him.
Sure he never was the lead guy on a championship team, but his competitiveness is amazing. He played his best through all the Lakers drama. Westbrook also put up 37 in a playoff game in the most recent playoffs. I’m quite a huge fan of this late-career Westbrook.
Kobe - when I first started following the NBA as a kid, Kobe was the player I liked to root against. Near the end of his career I had nothing but love for him.
Lebron. Prior to 2018 I thought nothing much of him aside from him obviously being the best player in the league but I didn’t see him on MJs level and barely above Kobe’s.
His 2018 run was the kind of stuff you’ll be telling your grandkids about a few decades from now, just like the oldheads love to do about Magic, Bird, Robertson etc.
I’m ashamed to say it was only then that I acknowledged that he was in fact, that dude.