Russell Westbrook Says He ‘Gets Painted to Be a Bad Guy’

Russell Westbrook lamented his ejection in Thursday night’s tilt vs Golden State as being unfair.

Westbrook said his smack of Damion Lee “wasn’t on purpose,” and that he is always “painted to be a bad guy.”

Russ finished with 21 points and 10 assists in the Houston Rockets’ 135-105 blowout of the Warriors.

Per The AP:

“I’m always the one that gets painted to be a bad guy in the whole situation,” Westbrook said, hinting he might review his technicals to see whether he has a case to get one rescinded.

“… I’m in a position of like, ‘Oh well, Russ is being Russ,’ which nobody knows what that means. But I’ve got to do a better job of holding myself accountable to a very, very high standard. I will make sure I leave no room for error to allow somebody and people to paint me out to be a guy that I’m not. I think it’s unfair that after all that I’m the only one that gets a tech or kicked out. That’s not fair.”

Things got testy with 6:04 to play when Westbrook tussled with several Warriors, including bumping Damion Lee but “it wasn’t on purpose.” After a replay review, Westbrook received his second technical of the night and was ejected.

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