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.
I think him working through his recovery process with the staff in Denver really helped him buy into the team’s system. They kept him, rehabilitated him, and taught him that being a piece of a larger puzzle was better than being a ball chucker and he bought in.
Bones Hyland is an example of the opposite. He absolutely refused the philosophy and they pretty much got rid of him just to be rid of him. He now has little going for him because he failed to realize that he isn’t the greatest and never will be. MPJ *had* to take a step back and it gave him time to realize he was apart of something greater.