Where Did Russell Westbrook Grow Up?
Russell Westbrook is a American basketball player and nine-time NBA All-Star. But while he is renowned for the Seattle SuperSonics and the Houston Rockets today, not much is known about his upbringing. This leaves the question: Where did Russell Westbrook actually grow up?
Russell Westbrook was born in Long Beach, California, and raised in the city of Hawthorne, California. Having started to play basketball in high school in Lawndale, California, Westbrook studied at UCLA before being drawn to play for the Seattle SuperSonics and the Houston Rockets in the NBA.
Read more about Russell Westbrook’s Californian upbringing and how he ultimately ended up leaving California to play first in Oklahoma, and then in Houston for the NBA.
California Boy
Russell Westbrook was born on November 12th, 1988, in Long Beach, California.
He is the son of Russell Westbrook Jr., after whom he was named, and Shannon Horton. He also has a younger brother called Raynard.
Westbrook was raised by his parents and grew up in Hawthorne, a city in southwestern Los Angeles County.
He went to Leuzinger High School, in Lawndale, California, which is where he started playing basketball.
While there, he didn’t start on his high school’s varsity team until his junior year, and did famously not receive his first college recruiting letter until the summer before his senior year.
That summer, Westbrook is said to have grown to his adult height of 6 ft 3 in, and simultaneously his basketball career started to accelerate.
Westbrook apparently didn’t attract much attention from top basketball programs until he at last received a scholarship for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), which he accepted, and which meant he relocated to Los Angeles.
At UCLA, Westbrook played as a defender and starter. After only two years there he decided to enter the 2009 NBA draft.
Leaving California
Westbrook, who gained himself the nickname ‘Beastbrook’, was selected 4th overall by the Seattle SuperSonics in the NBA draft in 2008, which meant he qualified for and signed for this team.
This meant that after having spent his entire life up to that point living in various parts of California, Westbrook had to relocate and leave his home state.
After he was drawn to play for the Seattle SuperSonics, the team relocated to Oklahoma and became the ‘Thunder’ six days later, which is why Westbrook moved to Oklahoma.
Next to his move, playing for the NBA also means Westbrook had to start travelling frequently all across the country.
However, Westbrook was able to relocate together with his childhood sweetheart Nina Earl, with whom he shares a son, who was born in 2017, and twin daughters, who were born in 2018.
Known for his intense playing style, Westbrook enjoyed a stable career in Oklahoma, which was however tarnished by the fact that he had to undergo knee surgery twice.
In July 2019 the prolific player was traded to the Houston Rockets for All-Star Chris Paul.
Playing for the Houston Rockets, Westbrook has been able to lead the team to considerable points and rebounds. Still, he made his debut playing for them in a 117-111 loss against the Milwaukee Bulls.
Most notably, while playing for the Rockets, Westbrook became the third player in NBA history with 19,000 points, 6,000 rebounds, and 7,000 assists after a 20-point, 7-rebound, and 4-assist performance.
Westbrook was also chosen to play in the FIBA World Championship team in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2010. Further solidifying his statue as a winning NBA player, he was also selected to play in the 2012 Summer Olympic team in London, where he won a second gold medal.
And looking at Westbrook’s impressive basketball career, it is clear that ‘Beastbrook’ has transitioned from a little-known teenage basketballer at UCLA to a respected NBA-player known for his fierce game.
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