Ex-NBA Player Makes Clear Russell Westbrook Statement Before Playoffs
With the regular season all wrapped up, the Denver Nuggets are one of the teams fortunate enough to know who their Round 1 opponent will be in the NBA Playoffs.
As the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference, they will host the Los Angeles Clippers for the series' first two games.
Nikola Jokic is coming off a historic regular season in which he averaged a 30-point triple-double.
There will be an added storyline to this already exciting Round 1 matchup, as Russell Westbrook will take on his former team.
He averaged 11.1 points per game for the Clippers last season on his way to finishing seventh in the Sixth Man of the Year voting.
Westbrook was a massive part of the Nuggets' success this season, particularly when he was inserted into the starting lineup when Aaron Gordon went down.
As a result, former NBA Player Chandler Parsons made quite the statement on FanDuel TV.
"If I'm Adelman, I'm going with Westbrook," Parsons said. "In a playoff series, I'm trusting Westbrook, a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer more than [Jalen] Pickett. Start Pickett, but I feel like closing games and closing series, I'm going with Russell Westbrook.
"He's been great for them all year long. Remember when they put him in the starting lineup when they were banged up? They were the best team in the NBA."
Lou Williams, a three-time Sixth Man of the Year award winner, agreed with Parsons.
"We can all agree that Westbrook should be the guy, that's gonna be the wildcard for this team to get ahead," said Williams.
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 14, 2025Chandler Parsons thinks Denver should start Russell Westbrook against the Clippers
"They were the best team in the NBA with Russ in the starting lineup...come a playoff series, I'm playing Russell Westbrook."
( @RunItBackFDTV )
The Nuggets will have their hands full with the Clippers' offense, which has many ways to score the basketball. For a team that was No. 24 in defensive efficiency during the regular season, that could spell disaster for Denver.
Denver went 2-2 against the Clippers in the regular season and are -165 favorites on DraftKings to win the series, which translates to a 62.26% chance.
