Russell Westbrook - Early Years

Early Years

Westbrook was born in Long Beach, California to parents Russell Westbrook and Shannon Horton. He has one younger brother, Raynard, and has said that he admires former Los Angeles Lakers great Earvin "Magic" Johnson. Growing up in Hawthorne, Westbrook was a childhood friend of Khelcey Barrs, a talented young small forward who had been attracting interest from major college basketball schools as a 6-foot-6, 200 pound high school sophomore. However, Barrs collapsed and died from cardiomegaly after playing a series of late night basketball games in 2004.

Westbrook entered Leuzinger High School as an unheralded 5-foot-8, 140-pound freshman point guard with size 14 shoes, not starting on the varsity team until his junior year. He did not receive his first college recruiting letter until the summer before his senior year. Westbrook eventually reached his adult height at 6′3″ that same summer.

He led the team to a 25–4 overall record and to a CIF-SS Div. I-AA quarterfinal playoff appearance during his senior year. He averaged 25.1 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.1 steals and 2.3 assists. He also connected on 57 three-pointers and made 76.0 percent of his free throws. He collected 14 double-doubles, scored 30 or more points on eight occasions and registered a career-best 51 points at Carson on January 6, 2006. He did not attract too much attention from top college basketball programs until Ben Howland offered him a scholarship to play for the UCLA Bruins after Jordan Farmar declared for the NBA Draft.