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Russell Westbrook 'discount double-checked' Steve Novak, and Milwaukee wouldn't have it

ben rohrbach
Senior NBA writer
Russell Westbrook drops a
Russell Westbrook drops a “discount double-check” in Green Bay Packers country. (Fox Sports screenshot)

Russell Westbrook has been the league’s Most Valuable Player through the season’s first two months, as the Oklahoma City Thunder star’s basketball performance is matched only by his troll game so far.

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Westbrook has managed to mock opponents in ways both nuanced, as it apparently was when he wore an official photographer bib to his first clash with Kevin Durant earlier this season, and overt, as was the case when he dropped Aaron Rodgers’ famed “discount double-check” celebration in the Green Bay Packers quarterback’s backyard during Monday’s road game against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Westbrook pulled up from well beyond the three-point line and connected with just more than a minute to play in the first half, giving his Thunder an eight-edge just before halftime. He strode to midcourt and snapped on an imaginary championship belt while looking directly at the Bucks bench.

It was an homage to a touchdown dance begat by Rodgers and dubbed the “discount double-check” after a series of State Farm ads in which insurance salesman also stole the two-time NFL MVP’s move.

Former Wisconsin high school star and professional three-point marksman Steve Novak first brought the “discount double-check” celebration to the NBA as a member of the New York Knicks in 2011:

He spent parts of the last two seasons on the Oklahoma City Thunder, where Westbrook apparently often mocked him for his belt dance during shootaround sessions. Now a member of the Bucks, Novak was sitting on the bench when Westbrook directed the midcourt move at him on Monday.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure it was (directed at me),” Novak told reporters following the game. “With Russ, we shot every single day after shootaround and it was belt jokes. If you were with us last year, you would say it makes a lot of sense. There was a lot of trash talk about shooting games. Not that money would ever exchange hands but we were definitely placing wagers. I definitely won a lot of games against him. … It (the Discount Double-Check) was definitely friendly.”

Westbrook smiled after unleashing the celebration in the direction of the Bucks bench, as the MVP candidate’s three-pointer pushed his first-half point total to 18, and the move drew boos from the Milwaukee crowd in response. Except, the Bucks faithful got the last laugh, as Westbrook finished short of his triple-double average (30 points on 9-of-28 shooting, seven rebounds, six assists) and turned the ball over with a chance to tie the game in the final seconds of an eventual 98-94 defeat.

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The only other response Milwaukeeans could’ve asked for was a “discount double-check” from a sweat-suited Novak at the final buzzer, because that’s a level of trolling even Westbrook could admire.

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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!