Keyonte George got to play against his idol; he was happier the Jazz got a win

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SALT LAKE CITY — Keyonte George had Friday's game against the LA Clippers circled. The reason was simple: It would be his first regular season game playing against Russell Westbrook.

George was just 4 years old when Westbrook was drafted, so the Jazz rookie spent his childhood watching Westbrook highlights, and even hung pictures of the former most valuable player up on his wall.

Leading up to Friday's game, he even referred to Westbrook as "you know who." So it obviously was pretty surreal when George finally checked in against his childhood hero, right?

Eh, not exactly.

"It was just another opponent, at the end of the day for me," the rookie said.

Once he got on the court, he didn't see the guy that was hanging on his walls as a kid, or the player from all the highlight reels he poured over. He saw a guy in the opposing jersey that he wanted to beat.

And beat him, he did. George had 8 points, three rebounds and two assists in 12 minutes during Utah's 120-118 win over the Clippers.

George got to guard Westbrook a few times, and even had a collision with him (George received a ticky-tack foul on that one).

"When it gets to game time, your mind shifts," George said. "It's time to lock in, everybody on the court that doesn't have a black jersey on, they're the enemy."

And he treated him like it. There were no pre- or postgame chats, or friendly greetings during the game. In fact, he said he didn't talk to him at all.

"I ain't that type of guy that's just gonna go out there and try that, you know what I mean?" George said. "He's a grown man."

George downplayed the moment, but Clippers coach Ty Lue had an idea what George may have been feeling Friday. During a lockout year in the 1990s, Lue found himself at the same run at UCLA with Kenny Anderson, the player Lue grew up idolizing.

"It was like a dream come true," Lue said.

Lue mentioned that Portland rookie Scoot Henderson, who the Clippers played on Wednesday, was another guard that was shaped by watching Westbrook. And, to Lue, there are definitely worse players to idolize.

"If you're gonna learn from one guy, that's one great guy to learn from because every single day he goes hard," Lue said.

That's an example Will Hardy doesn't mind George taking after, either.

"(Westbrook) is a guy that I've always marveled at. I'm not sure I've ever seen him look tired. He continues to play with that relentless aggression always," Hardy said. "Russell sets a great example for a lot of young players in the way that he takes care of his body, approaches every night, his competitiveness, play to play is something that I think a lot of people can learn from; got a lot of respect for him."

That seems to be George's attitude already. On Friday, he didn't care about playing against Westbrook, he cared about helping his team win.

"It felt great to have an impact on the game in my time being on the court," he said. "And then just being a great teammate on the bench — I'm up clapping and still engaged in the game, just in case my number gets called me. I'm just carrying carrying myself like a professional."