Russell Westbrook Defends His Family After They Receive Death Threats

“I 100 percent stand behind my wife and how she’s feeling,” he said March 7. “When it comes to basketball, I don’t mind the criticism of missing and making shots. But the moment it becomes where my name is getting shamed, it becomes an issue.”
 
Russell said the criticism about how he plays started to get to him when he realized how proud his son was of his last name. 
 
“Me and my wife were at teacher-parent conferences for my son,” the 14-year veteran added. “And the teacher told me, ‘Noah, he’s so proud of his last name. He writes it everywhere. He writes it on everything. He tells everybody and walks around and says, ‘I’m Westbrook.’ … And I kind of sat there in shock, and it hit me, like, ‘Damn. I can no longer allow people—for example, Westbrick—to me, is now shaming my name.'”