Courtesy of GQ

GQ: I know you're from California but did you grow up in Los Angeles?
Russell Westbrook: I'm from inner city L.A.

GQ: And were you a Laker fan growing up? Or the Clippers?

Russell Westbrook: You know what? My dad and my Mom were Lakers fans, but I wasn't like a die-hard Lakers fan, not really. I was kind of a fan, but not die-hard. I was definitely a basketball fan, but my first sport was football.

GQ: When was that when the Raiders were in L.A.?

Russell Westbrook: (laughs) Nah, nah, nah. That was way before my time.

GQ: Who was your basketball idol growing up?

Russell Westbrook: Magic Johnson was my favorite player growing up.

GQ: Wasn't he before your time a little, too?

Russell Westbrook: He definitely is. But I've seen a lot of film. The stuff that he does off the court is intriguing to me. That's one of the main reasons as well.

GQ: So when you were growing up, was he already doing the Starbucks and the movie theaters and stuff?

Russell Westbrook: Yeah, exactly. He was doing all that, different foundations, things of that nature.

GQ: The way you play point guard is pretty unique in the NBA, or at least unique in terms of what historically has been thought of from a point guard. Did you realize that coming up? Did you know you played a style all your own?

Russell Westbrook: Definitely. I was always wilder and fast, and on the floor I always kind of played out of control when I was younger. So I knew I played the position differently than everybody else did. But they didn't make me feel different about it.

GQ: Last season you guys get to the Finals and you lose. Your team always seems to learn to learn lessons and apply them. So what do you take from losing in the Finals?

Russell Westbrook: Aw man, it's tough man. When you make it that far, when you get that close to winning, it's kind of tough to get ready for the next year. But we took a lot from it. Every play in the Finals is very important, every possession is important. Everybody stepped their game up a notch.

GQ: What was it like watching your guy Harden go off his first game with the Rockets?

Russell Westbrook: It was good, man, it was exciting. He definitely can play. He's going to be a good piece for them.

GQ: How do you compensate for losing him?

Russell Westbrook: We have a good team, man. My job is to make sure we continue to win games, and that's what I'm going to try to do. I try to keep it going.

GQ: One thing about the Playoffs that was a lot of fun was your outfits during the press conferences. Did you know you had made it when everyone on the TNT set was wearing your shirt and glasses that night?

Russell Westbrook: That was pretty funny. I didn't even know that was happening until after our game, and then everybody kind of told me. But that was interesting.

GQ: When did you get interested in fashion?

Russell Westbrook: Just growing up. My Mom and I shopped all the time, she shops all the time, and I was always into fashion. I've been blessed to be in a situation where I can now buy some of the things that look good.

GQ: What kind of clothes was your Mom into?

Russell Westbrook: She would make sure we looked nice. She would make sure we were up to par with the fashion and what was going on. She stays on me now, lets me know what looks right, what looks good. It's still there.

GQ: Did you like the stuff she would pick out for you back then?

Russell Westbrook: Definitely. I wouldn't mind that at all. Because I knew she wasn't lost or didn't know what looked good or what was not hip. I didn't mind that at all.

GQ: Now as you've aged and you can buy your own stuff, what's interesting to you?

Russell Westbrook: I look for the different stuff, man. I'm confident in some of the things that I wear, regardless of what other people are wearing. I just try to find what looks good on me. I shop all the time, basically every day, whether it's online or in every city we go to.

GQ: Were you like that in high school and college too? Were you concerned with the way you looked then?

Russell Westbrook: In college I didn't dress up every day, for class or stuff like that, but when it came time to do certain things I'd dress up for sure.

GQ: What did you wear to the prom in high school?

Russell Westbrook: I had an all-white tux with a turquoise vest, and some white-and-turquoise Stacy Adams. I won best dressed at prom.

GQ: Did you win best dressed in the yearbook?

Russell Westbrook: No, I didn't because in high school I didn't dress up every day. I'd just wear basketball shorts. I could have tried if I wanted to, but I didn't.

GQ: Do you make an effort to dress up every day now? Or are there still days when you just throw on shorts and sweats.

Russell Westbrook: For practice I'll throw on sweats, but any time I'm going to events I'll dress up. I mean, I buy so many clothes, I've got to wear them somewhere.

GQ: Which outfit during the Playoffs last year got the most attention?

Russell Westbrook: It was probably that first one. Honestly, I didn't even think people would get it. I just thought it was a nice shirt, classic, something I've been doing for a while. I just kind of threw on what I had already. I wasn't trying to make a fashion statement, it just kind of happened that way.

GQ: That was the Lacoste shirt?

Russell Westbrook: Yeah.

GQ: But you had to know those red glasses were going to get some attention.

Russell Westbrook: Well, see, I didn't. I don't really pay no mind to it. I kind of just see it, and I get it. If I like it, I'll wear it regardless of what's going on or if somebody says something or not.

GQ: When you wear those glasses, do they have lenses in them or no?

Russell Westbrook: No, no, nine times out of ten, no. Some of them do, but not most of them, no.

GQ: Do you need glasses?

Russell Westbrook: Nah. I have the best vision.

GQ: Do you have a stylist or talk to a stylist at all?

Russell Westbrook: Nah. I mean, I have different people who can help me get shoes early or whatever, but putting stuff together and buying stuff, I kind of just do it on my own. I choose what looks good and go from there. I take a lot of time and see what looks good.

GQ: So when you guys are in the road in, say, Chicago, how will you go shopping? Do you go the mall? Do you try to find something different?

Russell Westbrook: I go to different boutiques. I just walk around, and I know a few places to go. I don't walk around too much because we'll have a game, but I might try to go into a store or two and see what I can get.

GQ: We talked about how the way you play as a point guard is unique. Is it fair to say that the way you dress and the way you play point guard has some connection there? Because they're both pretty distinctive and different...

Russell Westbrook: Definitely. For sure. Definitely.

GQ: Is that something you think about? Or is that just natural?

Russell Westbrook: Nah, I don't really think about it, it's just natural. It's kind of like, I have a certain taste in clothes, and I might be like, "I like this," when other people are like, "I can't wear that." And basketball, I might be able to do this at this position, while other guys might not think they can. So it kind of goes hand in hand.

GQ: Where do you go from here with the fashion stuff? Are you going to start rocking three-piece suits or something?

Russell Westbrook: I've got a lot of things in store. I'm going to try and stay in the same area. There's a lot of different ways that you can wear printed shirts, as you will see in the GQ shoot. There's different ways you can style it out.

GQ: Is one of the best parts about getting to go to the NBA Finals getting to wear more shirts at the press conferences?

Russell Westbrook: (laughs) I guess, because before I never did the press conferences, they didn't want me to, then last year they wanted me to do it.

GQ: Why do you wear number zero?

Russell Westbrook: My favorite number is 4, but when I got here I wasn't able to get it, nor in college. So when I got here I picked zero as a new beginning for me, it was a new start. I started from ground zero, a new beginning in my life.

GQ: On Twitter I see you've got this hashtag #whynot. In a way that sounds like how you look at fashion and basketball.

Russell Westbrook: That's the way I live life. It's kind of something that I've been going by for a long time. It relates to anything, man. It relates to school, to kids of any age at all. It's a good thing and it works.

GQ: How would you explain it to somebody? What does it mean?

Russell Westbrook: For example, if you're a kid and you want to be a doctor, ask yourself "Why not?" be a doctor. Why not be a teacher? Why not be an engineer? There's no reason to hold yourself back and say you can't do something in life unless you go for it and try to do it. So why not?

GQ: That's great. So if I was like, "Tonight I might put on some red-rimmed lenseless glasses to go out..."

Russell Westbrook: Exactly, why not? All positives man, all positives man. Defintely nothing negatives, all positives.