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Kobe Bryant defends Russell Westbrook with perfect meme (Photo)

By Patrick Schmidt

Apr 12, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) brings the ball up court against the Indiana Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 12, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) brings the ball up court against the Indiana Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
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Kobe Bryant thinks the criticism of Russell Westbrook is ridiculous.

Russell Westbrook scored 54 points in his last game, but the Oklahoma City Thunder guard and MVP candidate is a lightning rod for criticism and the media poked holes in his stat line.

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Westbrook has shouldered the scoring load for the Thunder with Kevin Durant out much of the season and has been a triple double machine but his critics point to his high volume of shots as a reason why he shouldn’t be in the MVP discussion.

Kobe Bryant is a fellow high volume shooter who never saw a shot opportunity he didn’t like and came to the aid of his Western Conference adversary via Twitter after Westbrook scored 54 points while shooting 49 percent from the field.

Westbrook nearly missed his 12th triple double of the season with a 54-9-8 line, numbers that would have people fawning over the player who pulled it off, but when it happens to be Westbrook, it’s frowned upon, for some odd reason unbeknownst to me.

First thing, do we think Kobe knows this meme originated from 30 Rock?

Secondly, Kobe tweets silly meme’s just like you and me.

Lastly, Kobe is spot-on with his assessment here because critics of Westbrook seem to have blinders on when it comes to his league-leading 27.9 points per game average or his 11 triple doubles and can only look at his field goal attempts.

But is James Harden or Steph Curry put up the same stat line there would be parades in their hometowns and children would get the day off from school the next day.

Stop for a second and imagine if LeBron James did what Westbrook did. ESPN would cancel all their normally scheduled programming and have wall-to-wall coverage of Lebron’s game on ESPN and ESPN2. Heck, ESPNU would have a panel of experts to discuss how LeBron would fare if he went to college.

It’s not like Westbrook isn’t passing the ball, he’s fourth in the NBA with an average of 8.6 assists per game and he’s doing it all without the reigning MVP and scoring champion. His teammates only shot 20-52, so would Westbrook be praised for giving the ball to his teammates who couldn’t make a shot while he was hot? If Durant was healthy, Westbrook could conceivably be averaging a triple double for the entire season.

Nevertheless, Westbrook and the Thunder have two games remaining in the regular season and are tied with the New Orleans Pelicans for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. I wonder if Kobe will have to defend Westbrook when the playoffs begin next week?

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