Ja Morant on Russell Westbrook: 'He's highly disrespected'

Ja Morant was a big fan of Russell Westbrook growing up and is still defending his childhood favorite despite competing against him now.

Morant spoke about Westbrook ahead of Wednesday night’s game between his Memphis Grizzlies and the Houston Rockets and praised Westbrook.

“I still feel like he’s highly disrespected,” Morant told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “People take his play for granted. I mean, he averaged a triple-double for the last three or four years and I’m pretty sure they see what he’s doing this year, but it’s still the same thing. I just love that he still just goes out and plays and handles his business and doesn’t worry about it.”

Westbrook, in typical fashion, said he didn’t care what anybody thought about his game, but appreciates the support from Morant.

The Rockets continued their hot ways and won their fifth straight game, blasting Memphis 140-112. Westbrook had 33 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and four steals in 34 minutes. He’s averaging 27.2 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game this season. More importantly, he hasn’t attempted more than four threes in a game in over a month. His 3-point shooting has long been a weakness in his game, and opponents often welcomed him to shoot more of them.

But is he disrespected? He has his fans and plenty of detractors. He won an NBA MVP award, so he definitely has earned a lot of respect and recognition.