As a native of Oklahoma, Atlanta Hawks rookie Trae Young has credited watching Russell Westbrook for his development in certain areas of his game on a few different occasions.

Young once again credited Westbrook.

Appearing on the Posted Up podcast with Yahoo Sports reporter Chris Haynes this week, Young talked about where his toughness has come from during his first year in the league.

For me, that’s a big thing [showing toughness] being a smaller guard, someone that had to work for everything I’ve got. A lot of it starts with toughness. I grew up also in Oklahoma City where I was going to Thunder games since I was a kid watching Russell Westbrook play all of the time. I think that toughness, that grit came from just people who I grew up around, my dad and his family. My mom, everybody. We’re just all tough people. Watching Russ growing up, I think a little bit of that came inside me too.

Young was a longtime season ticket holder of the Thunder before he played one season at Oklahoma so he had quite a few chances to watch Westbrook up close over the years.

Young made his first appearance at Chesapeake Energy Arena this season as a player. The point guard recorded nine points, eight assists and four rebounds in a 124-109 loss on Nov. 30.

Given the way that Westbrook plays the game, having some of his toughness as a player seems like a good trait to have so Young appears to be on the right track.

Young is averaging 18.5 points, 7.8 assists and 3.6 rebounds this season.