Before the triple-doubles, before the MVP, before the fashion tunnel became a runway and before Russell Westbrook’s NBA career turned into one of the fiercest individual storms of his generation, there was UCLA. There was basketball. And there was Nina Earl.
Russell and Nina Westbrook’s love story began in Westwood, where both were part of UCLA’s basketball world. Russell played for the Bruins men’s team before entering the NBA in 2008, while Nina was a standout on the women’s team. They began dating in 2007, when Nina visited UCLA.
It is the kind of story that almost sounds written for film. Two elite athletes on the same campus, both chasing basketball dreams, both understanding the pressure, sacrifice and obsession that come with the sport.
They married in 2015 and have since built a family together, with son Noah and twin daughters Skye and Jordyn. Nina went on to become a licensed marriage and family therapist, entrepreneur and mental health advocate, while Russell’s basketball life carried him across the NBA. Through it all, their story has remained rooted in the same place where it began: two UCLA hoopers who found more than a game in common.
Legendary American basketball player Russell Westbrook and his wife Nina share the story of how they found love through basketball in college 😍🏀❤️….This is beautiful ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Sy5pu5wRer
— NEDU (@Nedu_brazil01) May 14, 2026
