NBA Pokemon: Russell Westbrook is Charmeleon

During the early days of the Pokemon cartoon, basically every Pokemon that Ash met was a pretty happy being. While some took time to warm up to him like Squirtle and Bulbasaur, there always seemed to be a time that they would love Ash and respond to anything he needed happily. Then came Charmeleon, who from the moment he evolved from Charmander until the moment he evolved into Charizard, made life tough on Ash with his attitude.

It is that attitude though that made Charmeleon so special though, as despite it all he would stick up for his team when really needed which he was doing when he evolved into  Charizard. Despite his poor attitude though, Charmeleon was always cool thanks to his power. He never really needed to dig deep to bail out Ash as there was incredible strength inside of him whenever he felt like actually using it.

Russell Westbrook is the same was as Charmeleon. It starts with the attitude, as Russ never shies away from being a grumpy person as he showed when he stared down a teammate when he was left hanging on a high-five. Yet when it is needed, Russ is always there for his team despite how mad at them he may be.

It is the ultimate Charmeleon move to get let out of his pokeball for a battle, turn on Ash and let loose a flamethrower to his face before turning his attention to battle and defeating his opponent. Russ meanwhile will get let loose on a game, take a ton of bad shots and stare down anyone who questions him before unleashing a 40 point, 13 assist, 12 rebound effort to carry the Thunder to a win.

Maybe eventually Russ learns to turn down the attitude and becomes a lovable figure for everyone like Charmeleon did when he became Charizard. But for now that seems unlikely which means Russ will always be a grumpy, cool and powerful Charmeleon.