The news of Russell Westbrook's latest endeavor has been hopping around social media for the past 24 hours, and you can finally watch the full video above. Westbrook, MVP of the 2015 All-Star game, received a Kia SUV as part of his award. As we all know, Westbrook's mantra - Why Not? - is also the name of his charitable foundation. Westbrook's foundation, with the help of the Thunder organization, contacted the local Sunbeam Family Services organization to see if they could find a home for Westbrook's prize.
According to Nick Gallo and as you can see in the video above, they found what they were looking for:
Russell Westbrook brings tears of joy to single mom Kerstin Gonzales, surprising her w/ @Kia he won as All-Star MVP. pic.twitter.com/fijOHTSc4p
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) April 6, 2015 After sitting and waiting with her boys for a few minutes, she suddenly sensed a figure stroll behind her chair, and as two large hands tapped her on the shoulder, Gonzalez turned around to see Russell Westbrook’s signature wide grin. The initial shock of seeing a Thunder player didn’t last long, because as the Thunder point guard introduced himself, he told Gonzalez that he had a surprise for her – a brand new car. At first, Gonzalez was skeptical, but as soon as Westbrook pulled the keys out of his pocket, she broke into tears.
"Are they playing a prank on me or something?" Gonzalez said of her initial reaction. "When he showed me the keys, I was like ‘this is real’. That’s when I started to cry because it’s been such a hard time."
"There were definitely tears of joy and I could tell some tears of hard work and all the different things she’s been through in her life," Westbrook said. "Today was a stepping stone in showing her that everything is going to be alright."
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The final hug before Gonzalez left with her boys was for Westbrook, who won the NBA Cares Community Assist Award for the month of October and has been extremely active in the community through his Why Not? Foundation. All afternoon, Westbrook played and joked with the young boys Matthew and Adam, while comforting Gonzalez, whose emotions got the best of her on a few occasions as she tried to wrap her mind around what was happening. For Gonzalez, Westbrook’s surprise was life-changing. That’s the type of impact Westbrook wants to bring to as many people as possible in Oklahoma and he’s doing it one person at a time, one day at a time.
"He was a gentleman," Gonzalez said of Westbrook. "He was amazing, he was sweet and so attentive to what I had to say. He’s a really awesome person."
"I was so touched by the way that he interacted with her," Engelke said. "He was so gentle, calm and warm. I was completely blown away. He’s a remarkable individual."
Westbrook will likely always have to deal with the dichotomy between his on-court and off-court persona, and acts of kindness like this can often be seen in opposite lights. He may never dispel the idea that he's (fill in the blank), but perhaps he doesn't really care either way. At the end of the day, a hurting family got the help it needed, and sometimes that legacy is enough. After all, why not?
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