Westbrook was never one of my favorite players during most of his prime, but seeing how Westbrook has handled his last few years helped me gain a lot of respect for him.
Sure he never was the lead guy on a championship team, but his competitiveness is amazing. He played his best through all the Lakers drama. Westbrook also put up 37 in a playoff game in the most recent playoffs. I’m quite a huge fan of this late-career Westbrook.
Kobe - when I first started following the NBA as a kid, Kobe was the player I liked to root against. Near the end of his career I had nothing but love for him.
Honestly when he got to Denver right after the wizards he was trying really hard to change his reputation. He still made boneheaded plays, but I remember they used to have to sub him out cause of his asthma and he was hustling too hard. Dude just didn’t have the coaching he needed earlier with the wizards