In the wake of the Denver Nuggets' Game 5 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder that brought them to the brink of elimination, Aaron Gordon wanted to start his postgame comments by addressing an article published earlier on Tuesday by ESPN's Ramona Shelbourne.

The piece, titled "Why the Nuggets' title hopes might hinge on the most volatile player in the NBA," included this passage:

Nuggets lost Game 2 of their first-round series against the Clippers, Adelman had a problem.

While he'd been at the postgame lectern, there'd been a heated discussion between Westbrook and Gordon in the locker room, multiple sources told ESPN. Gordon had challenged Westbrook about his attitude.

Outside the locker room, one player relayed why Gordon might've done so.

"He's so immature," he said of Westbrook.

Gordon took issue with the piece, pivoting from reflecting on the loss to offer his thoughts on his teammate.

"Really, I don't feel like talking about the game," he said. "Earlier I caught wind of an article that came out about Russell Westbrook and our locker room after Game 2, which was a completely arbitrary article and pointless and unnecessary. Russ is one of the most talented basketball players that has ever played the game of basketball. And quite frankly, he's been great for us all year long. We're brothers, we spend more time with our team than we do with our family. Of course there's going to be disagreements. But that conversation wasn't for anybody other than our own group."

Gordon continued to heap praise on Westbrook as a player and a person, which is exactly what one might expect after a media-inspired flareup put their relationship under a microscope. His repeated contention that the article was "arbitrary" doesn't hold a lot of water as the dynamics between two key players on a remaining playoff team—especially when one of those has the mercurial track record of Westbrook—is totally fair game and of public interest. If Gordon wants to claim that it's inaccurate portrayal of what that dynamic is, he'll find a more sympathetic audience.

Westbrook, for what it's worth, has risen to the playoff moment time and time again. Denver will need him if it hopes to win two straight and make the Western Conference finals and putting forth a front of unity is a smart move by Gordon.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Aaron Gordon Rips 'Pointless and Arbitrary' ESPN Article on Nuggets Locker Room.

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