BOSTON — The NBA world watched as Russell Westbrook announced his retirement from professional basketball and walked off into the sunset. Players around the league reacted to the news, and it even had LA Clippers guard Darius Garland reminisce on when he was a kid watching Westbrook growing up.

Westbrook officially retired this summer, posting a video across his social media platforms to announce his decision that highlighted his NBA career and impact off the floor as well.

Darius Garland recently sat down with ClutchPoints for an exclusive interview about his partnership with New Balance and the upcoming season. It was there that Garland admitted he was like all the kids who watched Russell Westbrook growing up and aspired to be just like him.

“Everybody wanted to be like Russ growing up,” Garland told ClutchPoints. “Just his explosiveness, his athleticism. The way he cared about the game is something I really, really kept an eye on. He's going to give it 110% every game. Doesn't matter how tired he is, how old he is. I actually thought he had like a couple more years left in the tank, to be honest with you, because the way he was going last year was insane. So yeah, it kind of hurt for the league, but I know he's sending it off in the right spot, and I know he's happy.”

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Since joining the league in 2019, Garland has played 12 games in his career against Russell Westbrook, losing eight of those games.

Russell Westbrook finished his stellar NBA career having played 18 seasons. In those 18 electric years, Westbrook averaged 20.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, 8.0 assists, and 1.6 steals per game. He also finished first in NBA history in triple-doubles with 209, 14th in total points with 27,176 points scored, fifth in total assists with 10,351 assists, and 14th in total steals with 2,038 steals.

Darius Garland is eyeing a big season for the Clippers now that Kawhi Leonard is out of the picture and the franchise has essentially handed him the keys. In 19 appearances last season, Garland averaged 19.9 points, 2.3 rebounds, 6.4 assists, and 1.2 steals per game for the Clippers while shooting 47.1 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from three.

Now that he's healthy and has a training camp under his belt under head coach Tyronn Lue, Garland is hoping the Clippers can surprise everyone.