John W. McDonough/SI
Kevin Love And Russell Westbrook’s Epic Thermostat Battles At UCLA
Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love and OKC’s point guard Russell Westbrook once were teammates at UCLA, they even were roommates. Love now wrote an article for the ‘Player’s Tribune’ filled with hilarious anecdotes of their time at UCLA. Both of them had already been very competitive and (in Westbrook’s case) very stubborn. This led to almost comical fights, which Love refers to as ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm Style’, over adjusting the thermostat.
I would have loved to see them get out of bed to readjust the thermostat back and forth. Check out this bit out of Love’s article.
Russ and I ended up being roommates on the road. I think we had an immediate bond because we had common goals coming out of high school. We’d lie around our hotel room talking about making it to the NBA.
Sometimes Russ could be a stubborn roommate. We butted heads because we were competitive about everything. We competed at video games. We played hundreds of hands of a card game called “13.” (I still maintain that I’m up by one point.) We showed up to the gym early (he was somehow always there before me) to lift, study film and get in some extra shooting.
We were even competitive over the temperature of the room.
You know the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode where Vivica’s character is sick in bed and Larry keeps adjusting the thermostat? That was me and Russ.
Russ could be a stubborn roommate. Our thermostat battles would go something like this…
Our thermostat battles would go something like this….
“Minimum 74,” he’d say.
I needed the room cold. Around 68 was perfect.
At night, Russ would jump up from bed and turn the dial way up — and then five minutes later I would sneak over and turn it back down.
One time I offered a compromise — “How ‘bout 71 degrees?”
“Seventy-three,” Russ replied. “Final offer.”
See what I mean? Dude is stubborn.
Over time, I got to see another side of Russ, too. Like the first time he talked to me about a girl named Nina. She was on the women’s basketball team. He would go on and on about her.
Just last summer, I got to see Russ and Nina get married. That just about sums our Bruins team up. All these years later, we’re like family.
Read the full article on ‘The Player’s Tribune’
