Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook: Symbiosis the Secret to Their Success

Kevin Durant is the MVP and arguably (along with LeBron James) the best player in the NBA. Russell Westbrook, his Oklahoma City Thunder teammate, is in the conversation for top-five player, as well. Yet, in spite of the fact that the pairing have been succeeding for years together, fans want to argue that they can’t coexist. The truth is, their relationship is symbiotic.

Durant helps Westbrook to be a better player, and Westbrook helps the Thunder to be a better team. Thus both benefit from the play of the other.

There are some, however, who falsely state that Westbrook hurts Durant by shooting too much. There are others who have argued that if he had the chance to be the No. 1 guy on his time like Derrick Rose does, he could be the MVP. Both arguments neglect the benefits of having two top-tier players on the court together and are steeped in misunderstandings and/or false assumptions.

A close look at the number should dispel the notion that either player does anything but benefit from the presence of the other.

Russell Westbrook’s “Poor Shooting” Doesn’t Hurt Durant

The chief argument against Westbrook is that his poor shooting hurts Kevin Durant. The general notion is that every “bad” shot that Westbrook takes is a “good shot” that Durant could have taken.

There are a couple of things to consider with this argument, though. First is that field-goal percentage, the primary argument used against Westbrook is an antiquated and completely useless stat. Any argument centered on it is automatically suspect.

Field-goal percentage doesn’t really reflect scoring efficiency because it includes neither three-point shots nor free-throw attempts. Last year, Westbrook scored 1,002 points, with 446 of those coming on threes or from the charity stripe. So, any accurate measure of his scoring efficiency needs to take those things into account.

In particular, the free throws matter with Westbrook. The hidden aspect of a player who draws a lot of fouls is how they have a falsely-negative impact on his field-goal percentage.

Typically when Westbrook gets fouled, it’s near the rim. And since they’re hard fouls, they prevent a shot from going in that normally would have been made. While it doesn’t count against him as an attempt, the ensuing free throws don’t count for him either. And, since that happens it gives an artificial impression of how his shots are distributed and lowers his overall field-goal percentage.

Imagine a game where he takes 20 shots, with five of those being from the three-point line, five being from mid-range and the other 10 being near the rim. However, on five of those attempts near the rim, he gets fouled hard and the shot doesn’t go in. Ergo, he gets credited with 15 attempts.

Just looking at the statistic, it seems that a third of his shots came from long-twos when it is actual only a fourth.

Now imagine that he made four of the shots from near the rim (eight points), two of the threes (six points) and only one of the mid-range shots (two points). Thus, he is 7-of-15 from the field for the day, or a field-goal percentage of only .467.

Yet, he goes 9-of-10 from the stripe. That means in the 20 possessions he used, he scored 25 points. If a player went 12-of-20 from the field with all of his shots from two, he would only score 24 points, yet shoot .600. Which player is more efficient, then?

That’s why true shooting percentage is a better measure of efficiency as it accounts for both threes and free throws. Westbrook’s true shooting percentage last year was .545, which is a more than respectable number. Compare that with LaMarcus Aldridge, who isn’t considered inefficient, at .507.

In Fact, Westbrook Makes the Thunder Better

Many seem to be under the impression that Westbrook hurts the Thunder by taking too many shots, and that the team would be better if Durant didn’t have to worry about him. But the facts show otherwise.

Here, thanks to NBAWowy, is a look at how the Thunder fare when both their superstars are on the court compared to when Durant is on the court without Westbrook.

In particular, take note of the points per possession. The Thunder actually have an offensive rating (points per possession) that is 2.2 points higher when both players are on than when Durant is alone. This fundamentally debunks the notion that Thunder would be better off without Westbrook.

But it doesn’t end there. It also shows up in the wins and losses. Last season the Thunder went 59-23 overall, but they were 34-12 (.739) in games that Westbrook played and 25-11 (.694) in games he didn’t. That means that over the course of an 82-game season having Westbrook and Durant together is worth about four games more than having Durant alone.

Only three times since the NBA/ABA merger has a player won the MVP without finishing on a top-three team. If it weren’t for Westbrook’s contributions, the Thunder wouldn’t have finished with a top-three record this year, and it’s feasible (though not guaranteed) that Durant would not have won the MVP.

Westbrook deserves at least some credit for helping Durant to win his MVP.

Durant Makes Westbrook Better

Westbrook makes the Thunder better, too. And his numbers in 2012-13 (23.2 points, 7.4 assists) are close enough to Derrick Rose’s MVP season (25.0 points, 7.8 assists) that some have argued that in fact, if he had the opportunity to lead his own team, Westbrook could win an MVP, too. While that’s not impossible the comparison has some flaws because it overlooks the impact Durant has on Westbrook’s numbers.

On the surface it would seem that Westbrook could actually be even better without Durant. His true shooting percentage over the last two seasons with Durant is .533, but when he is on the court without Durant it’s .552. So remarkably, Westbrook is more efficient without Durant.

But here’s the problem with that. That only involves 327 minutes over two years. And in those minutes Westbrook’s usage percentage is a preposterous 44.8. To put that in perspective, the highest usage percentage ever in a season is Kobe Bryant’s 38.7, when he was firing off 27 shots a contest back in 2005-06.

To keep up that rate would essentially be biologically impossible, especially when you consider that Westbrook attempted 115 free throws in just 677 possessions. If Westbrook were to sustain that rate for a full season, he would attempt 1096 free throws in a year. Only Wilt Chamberlain has ever done that, and that was when the “take three to make two” rule was still in effect (meaning that a player had three attempts to make two shots).

In other words, if Westbrook played the same way without Durant, his reckless abandon would have him become the most fouled player in the history of the NBA. Considering his recent injury history, there is no way he can sustain that.

Durant helps Westbrook to keep from killing himself. The best thing in the world for Westbrook is to not be the best player on his own team, and there aren’t many players that can make that claim.

When you consider all the facts, Durant and Westbrook benefit from one another, and the best problem in the world is having them both on the same team.