Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant knows a thing or two about being described as a selfish player as he used to get this label thrown at him often during his 19-year career.Terms such as 'ball hog' and 'stat filler' were tossed at the Black Mamba and in that regard he can relate to a certain player in the league who has taken on those criticisms; Rusell Westbrook. Kobe was regularly accused of chasing stats and it comes as no surprise that the future Hall of Famer has come to the defence of Westbrook who is having the same label thrown at him this year.In a recent loss to the Phoenix Suns, Russ posted 23 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, which clinched a triple-double average for him on the season.He became just the second player ever along with Oscar Robertson to accomplish the feat. However, the six-time All-Star fell two assists shy of breaking Robertson's single season triple-double record of 41 despite appearing to pass up shots late in the game in search of the record-clinching assists.Surely many players in that situation would've done the same thing with a chance of making history within touching distance. After the game, the 28-year-old was asked by reporters whether he was actively trying to get the assists he needed, and Bryant did not like the line of questioning Westbrook was getting and took to Twitter to voice his opinion. 

“He averages a trip dub for the season @ramonashelburne and this is the kind of question he gets #silly,” Bryant wrote.

The former Lakers superstar was clearly annoyed by the motives of the assembled media but that's what we've come to expect from Kobe and most NBA players as they tend to stick up for one another especially when the media is involved. 

But with his team down 20 in the fourth quarter, Westbrook was still in the game obviously seeking the two assists, so the reporters were well within their rights to ask the question as the player brought it on himself. 

The Suns players saw exactly what was happening and were not prepared to be on the wrong end of a historic night, however. 

"Fourth quarter, we had such a big lead and the only thing he needed was assists, so the whole game plan changed," Suns forward Jared Dudley told ESPN. "He was still in the game down 20, 25, and you could see he was being real passive, so we just stayed home; and if he was going to do a drop-off, we were going to foul and make them earn it. If he was going to earn it, it was going to be somewhere else.

"I hope he gets it, just not here, not versus us. We've dealt with enough problems this year, so to have another history against us and have to watch it 20 years from now, I'm glad it's not us."

Oklahoma City Thunder have just three games remaining on their schedule and we should expect their upcoming opponents to try and adopt the same tactics.