If the Thunder didn’t have Russell Westbrook on their team right now, there’s a pretty good chance they wouldn’t be up 3-1 in the Western Conference Finals against the Warriors. Hell, if the Thunder didn’t have Russell Westbrook on their team right now, there’s a pretty good chance they wouldn’t even be in the Western Conference Finals, and you could even make the argument that, at this point in time, they would have a completely different team surrounding Kevin Durant and wouldn’t be as good as they are today. Westbrook is the heart and soul of the Oklahoma City team so, without him, who knows where they would be?
But despite that, there was actually a time when the Thunder were torn over whether or not to select Westbrook, who played his college ball at UCLA, with the fourth pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley, and O.J. Mayo went first, second, and third that year in the draft ahead of Westbrook (welp) and the Thunder weren't sure if they should take Westbrook or Brook Lopez at No. 4. And according to the team’s former coach P.J. Carlesimo, who was with the franchise in 2007 and 2008 when they were still the Seattle SuperSonics, he actually pushed for the team to take Lopez over Westbrook. He talked about it during a “One Awesome Story” segment on ESPN Radio’s Russillo & Kanell on Wednesday and ‘fessed up to the mistake he almost made.
You can listen to Carlesimo tell the whole story in the video above. You can also read a transcript of the portion of the story that features Carlesimo talking about the Westbrook vs. Lopez debate below:
Lopez was eventually selected at No. 10 by the Nets. Can you even imagine how differently things could have worked out for Westbrook, Durant, and the Thunder as a whole if Carlesimo had gotten his way?
Send all complaints, compliments, and tips to sportstips@complex.com.