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 just thought of this, but I couldn’t stand to watch Gary Payton I (Not GPII) when he played in Seattle. He seemed to have had such a negative attitude and was in a foul mood all the time. Now that he has been retired for many years and has a great son playing (who has a great attitude), it turns out that the attitude of GPI was all a ruse. He cultivated the look. It was all to intimidate his opponents. He’s really a truly nice guy.