Russell Westbrook doesn’t like being called “Westbrick.”
On Wednesday night, Westbrook scored 38 points in the second quarter of a game to lead the Clippers to a road victory over the Grizzlies after Westbrook tried to eject a Memphis fan for apparent heckling.
The fan in question was 30-year-old Benjamin Orgel, who works in real estate in Memphis, and told The Post his story.
“You’re going to laugh when you hear this,” Orgel said.
“He turned his back on me, and all I said to him was ‘Westbrick’. I didn’t say ‘you’re disgusting’. I didn’t say anything. “I said ‘Western brick’ once, like singing.”
From then on the situation escalated.
“Then he turned around and said, ‘What did you tell me?'”
“Westbrick,” repeated Orgel.
“Then he said, ‘What do you call me?'” Orgel recalled. “I said, ‘Westbrick.’ Then he said, ‘Get the f–king out of the game.'”
The Grizzlies fan confronted several security guards and demanded he leave his seat.
“Clippers security and NBA security took me in the back, and I told them what happened,” Orgel said.
“I said, ‘Guys, actually I just said ‘Westbrick’. I didn’t say ‘you’re disgusting.’ I came back like 30 seconds later.’
Clippers guard Russell Westbrook points out a heckling fan to the referees.AP
Grizzlies fan Benjamin Orgel, 30, revealed that Russell Westbrook tried to throw him out for calling him West-brick.Bally Sports
Westbrook has previously faced off against a fan who called him by the same name, and has publicly lamented his last name change in recent years.
Asked how his impressions of Westbrook changed after Wednesday night’s incident, Orgel said, “Honestly, I feel bad for the guy because if someone calls him Westbrick, he’d get that upset.”
“I looked on social media after the game and it was fun,” Orgel said.
“Even Dave Portnoy used to say that Westbrook gets mad when people call him Westbrick – people thought that happened, it’s true!”
Westbrook once defied Skip Bayless, saying the FS1 host wouldn’t call him West-brick to his face (if they ever met, Bayless would probably be willing to use the name), and the point guard’s wife, Nina, also lamented the nickname .
“It’s very disappointing that I choose to continue to disgrace my family’s name,” Nina Westbrook tweeted at Bayless last June.
“Today has been very sad for my daughters and for me. The fact that they couldn’t honor a simple request not to try to tarnish my family name is pathetic and such a load. It’s very painful.”
In an interview with The Post, Orgel was surprised that such mild heckling would get under Westbrook’s skin to such an extent.
“I understand the behavior of the fans,” he said. “I’ve been to 35 games a year since the Grizzlies moved to Memphis in 2000. I know how to play.”