A lot of people thought Russell Westbrook would try to stay with the Denver Nuggets, but he opted to test the free agency waters instead.
That hasn’t worked out well for him, and it’s left fans wondering what went wrong in Denver.
Now, Danny Green is shedding some light on the breakdown between Westbrook and the Nuggets and why he chose to leave.
“From what I heard is that they were not planning on to play him at all this year, even behind certain guys that he should be above,” Green said
Russell Westbrook reportedly opted out of his contract with the Nuggets because Denver had no plans to include him in the rotation and intended to keep him at the end of the bench, per @DGreen_14
“From what I heard is that they were not planning on to play him at all this year,… pic.twitter.com/4zSKYPZYJl
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 10, 2025
The idea of being at the end of the bench surely didn’t sit right with Westbrook, who is a nine-time All-Star, two-time scoring champ, and former MVP.
Over the last few years, he has become more comfortable coming off the bench, but losing even more responsibilities was too much for him.
Westbrook was getting a fair amount of minutes under head coach Michael Malone, but that all changed when Malone was fired.
Moving forward, Westbrook would see his role diminish again.
Westbrook assumed he’d be able to find a different home in the NBA, even on a smaller contract.
But there wasn’t a huge demand for him, and his options were limited and then seemingly non-existent.
Now, for the first time in years, Westbrook will not be in the NBA when the season kicks off in a few weeks.
It may not stay that way for long, and a team could pick up the phone later in the year, but Westbrook is currently out of commission.
NEXT: Key Nuggets Player Sends Confident Message About Starting Lineup