“I do enjoy beating teams that I was formerly at, for different reasons.” This was Russell Westbrook’s admission in January, and it was in full effect on Sunday at the Crypto.com Arena. The Sacramento Kings guard made sure to put everyone on notice, even former teammate Austin Reaves.

It started when Malik Monk received a technical foul in the second quarter, and on the next play, Maxi Kleber, whom he had confronted, threw down a poster dunk off a Luka Doncic pass. Then, with six minutes left, Kleber gave away a blocking foul, which Monk did not like, and the two started jawing at each other. Westbrook was quick to intervene and added his two cents as well, defending his teammate after the hard bump.

Netizens were all over the viral moment, and one even lip-read what Westbrook had allegedly said to Kleber: “Come on over here.”

The officials tried to separate the two, and even the benches emptied to prevent escalation. That’s when Reaves came to his teammates’ defense, and a few words were exchanged. However, you’d be mistaken if you thought the game got easy for the referees after that.

In the same second frame, with four minutes left, Reaves had to listen to what Westbrook was saying again. It happened when Doncic was at the charity stripe and had missed his first free throw. Apparently, the Kings guard said, “Ball don’t lie” when his team was down by 18 points. Instead of arguing, both the Lakers stars ended up laughing and dismissing the entire scenario. This should have stopped here, right?

But Westbrook is not the one to give up so easily. He started yelling louder, pointing, jumping toward Doncic’s position. In fact, the referee had to intervene and issue a technical foul to Westbrook for the outburst (likely for unsportsmanlike conduct, including taunting and excessive complaining).

This wasn’t the first time Doncic faced a fiery Westbrook, though. Back in 2024, when the Slovenian was with the Dallas Mavericks, Brodie tugged Doncic’s arm with extreme force while the latter attempted to drive into the paint. The matter did not end because Westbrook, then at the Los Angeles Clippers, attempted to swing his fist at Doncic and PJ Washington. He was ejected immediately after the review, resulting in a double technical foul.

Westbrook’s temper clearly hasn’t cooled, which brings us to the larger question after tonight’s game.

What did Russell Westbrook say in his suspected expletive-filled rant?

Russell Westbrook’s perceived hatred toward the Lakers is understandable, as the veteran feels he was never given a fair chance to prove his worth. In fact, to this day, the narrative runs hot that he was the scapegoat for the 2021 playoff failure. Naturally, Westbrook wouldn’t accept it and plays hard against his former teams on the floor. Against the Lakers, he ended with 14 points, five assists, and four rebounds. But the talking point was his NSFW statements.

It started with Monk shouting, “F— off me, can’t stop me.”

Brodie from the bench also got involved. Netizens were quick to point out what he allegedly said.

“B—- a–! Busting y’all a– right now, I’ll beat the f— out y’all right now.”

That’s when Reaves intervened to sort this issue. The foul by Kleber wasn’t malicious, so it didn’t warrant such an outburst. Yet the issue escalated, but the Lakers remained in control from the start. While the Kings scored the first basket after tip-off, it was all Purple and Gold in their blowout 128-104 win.