Russell Westbrook Becomes Latest NBA Star To Take Issue With Shot Attempts At The Final Buzzer
Feb 2, 2026
Last week, Lu Dort and Jeremiah Fears got into a scuffle at the end of an OKC Thunder-New Orleans Pelicans game. The reason: With the outcome of the game decided (a 104-95 Thunder win), Dort wasn’t pleased with Fears’ layup attempt at the buzzer.
For the longest time, NBA players have lived by an unwritten rule stating that no shots should be attempted in the final seconds of a game if the winner has clearly been established. This past weekend, another NBA veteran took it upon himself to reinforce this edict.
Russell Westbrook, in fact, wasn’t even in his game threads when the Sacramento Kings took on the Boston Celtics Friday night. That didn’t stop him, though, from confronting Chris Boucher after the Celtics reserve swished a three at the end of regulation.
The problem was, the Celtics already had a 16-point victory in their back pocket; Boucher’s trey, which bumped the final score to 112-93, was essentially irrelevant to the Celtics’ cause.
Clad in a stylish white jacket, Westbrook was seeing red as he walked towards the Celtics’ side of the court. Staring daggers at Boucher, the nine-time All-Star made multiple gestures to signify that the game was already over.
Unfazed, Boucher walked over to Westbrook and explained his side. The 33-year-old forward out of Oregon was simply making the most of garbage time, as he hadn’t seen action since November 23. Some of his DNPs were because of injury or illness, and there were other times when Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla simply didn’t see fit to give Boucher any minutes.
Back in that November 23 game (a 138-129 win over the Orlando Magic), Boucher had played 14 minutes and scored a solitary point. He could hardly be blamed, then, for wanting to log more points next to his name when he launched (and made) that three at the end of the Celtics-Kings game.
Hearing all of this, Westbrook tapped Boucher’s chest and indicated that all was well. While the Dort-Fears situation had to be broken up by teammates and officials, this latest episode of “Don’t Shoot at the Buzzer” was thankfully resolved with a simple conversation.
