Russell Westbrook has 5-word clapback for $25,600,000 center's troll after dunk

Russell Westbrook and the Denver Nuggets faced the Houston Rockets on Sunday night, which resulted in the Nuggets’ 116-111 win. In one of the game's highlights, Rockets center Steven Adams converted a dunk over the defense of his former teammate Westbrook to keep the momentum going for the Rockets.

Hours after the game, Westbrook remarked about Adams’ highlight reel after the former OKC Thunder center posted the highlight on his Instagram story, mentioning Westbrook with a grinning emoji.

“LMAO NEVER AGAIN MY BROTHER,” Westbrook wrote.

Russell Westbrook's IG story

The play happened off a pick-and-roll sequence between Fred VanVleet and Adams.

Westbrook and Adams, who signed a $25,600,000 contract with the Rockets last season (Spotrac), were once teammates on the Thunder from 2013 to 2019, playing in one conference finals together. Adams was also the starting center for OKC when Westbrook won his only NBA MVP in 2017 by averaging a triple-double in the regular season.

The two have continued their bond after Westbrook departed OKC in 2019, and Adams in 2020.

Adams had a double-double in the Rockets’ loss, with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Westbrook put up 14 points and two rebounds for the Nikola Jokic-less Nuggets.

The win put the Nuggets just one game behind the Rockets in the West as they jostle for playoff positioning on top of the standings.

Russell Westbrook reminds Steven Adams of his older brother

After over half a decade as teammates, Russell Westbrook and Steven Adams created a strong bond during their time in OKC. In an interview on "The Young Man and Three" podcast of LA Lakers coach JJ Redick, Adams looked back at his time as Westbrook’s teammate.

"He just reminded me of one of my older brothers, you know what I mean?” Adams said. "They're intense and stuff, and they say a lot of things and whatnot, but you kind of got to sift through all that and see what they actually say. ... It doesn't really matter how intense they say it, as long as the message is getting across."

Adams commended Westbrook’s mentality in life, regardless if it is on the court or off of it.

"Off the court, bro, solid dude. Awesome. Really, really cool. And then on the court obviously, he's bloody passionate, whatever you want to call it, whatever you want to name it: intense, passionate, angry, freakin' psycho, whatever."

After the Thunder broke them apart, Westbrook played for the Rockets in the 2019-20 season, the Washington Wizards in 2020-21, the LA Lakers from 2021 to 2023, and the LA Clippers last year.

For Adams, he played for the New Orleans Pelicans, Memphis Grizzlies and now the Rockets, where he plays a backup center role.