The Weekside: Russell Westbrook’s Last Stand

The Thunder’s playoff hopes aren’t dead yet, but if Russell Westbrook goes down, he’s going down with an empty chamber. That deserves admiration, not scorn.

The Thunder and Pelicans both lost last night to remain deadlocked in a battle for the final spot in the Western Conference playoffs. But with just two games left for both teams, New Orleans now looks like the overwhelming favorite. The Pelicans own the tiebreaker, and this alone would be reason enough to expect them to get the 8th seed.

But the worse news for Oklahoma City is that Russell Westbrook picked up a technical foul last night in a loss the Pacers. And since it was his 16th of the year, he is now mandated to miss his team’s next game by league rules. There is always the possibility that the league could rescind the tech, but doing so would send a very bad message. If he can’t play, it is unlikely that the Thunder will be able to outperform New Orleans and make the playoffs.

UPDATE: The technical was rescinded, so Westbrook will get to play tonight against that Portland Trail Blazers.

More than anything, though, it’s stunning that the Thunder may have been eliminated from the postseason in the same game that a brilliant Westbrook scored a career-high 54 points. He was magnificent, single-handedly putting the Pacers on the canvas early with 22 first-quarter points and hardly relenting through the night.

There should only be one lesson from all this: It’s a cruel, cruel world, and injuries — which have sidelined Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka for weeks — are the worst. If this was fiction, we would all be praising Westbrook for his last stand, starting a slow clap as he lies dying on the bridge like Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan while whispering “earn this“ to Anthony Davis.

But instead, we’re trapped in the awful world we live.

Westbrook is already catching flak for taking so many shots in this game — despite nearly recording a FIFTY-POINT triple double — and for losing his cool to get the technical. There is a certain breed of fan or pundit who looks at his shot total (43 field-goal attempts) and instinctively thinks it’s wrong.

If this was fiction, we would all be praising Westbrook for his last stand, starting a slow clap as he lies dying on the bridge like Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan while whispering “earn this” to Anthony Davis.

They don’t really care that he also had 8 assists and 9 rebounds while putting in what was nearly the highest-scoring triple-double in 30 years (which would merely be breaking a record he currently holds alongside Larry Bird). They don’t care that his coach and teammates — even his more-famous one — want him playing this way. They don’t care that the tech looked pretty dubious, given by a hot-headed ref with a quick trigger to a guy who appeared to doing some run-of-the-mill arguing.

But Russell Westbrook doesn’t need me to defend him.

He said it best after the game when asked if he took too many shots. “Every night I go out and compete harder than any player in this league.” He does. And he did.

That’s the only reason the Thunder were alive in this playoff race as long as they were.

You think that would be enough to deflect most criticism, but Westbrook draws way more than most. Some comes from armchair analysts who throw around teamwork platitudes. They act as if we’re talking about a JV player who is over-reaching his talents to the detriment of the team instead of someone putting his body and career on the line every night by attacking the rim like a rabid honey badger.

Yes, a lot of people have a lot of opinions on Westbrook’s style of play. And a lot of people knock him for his irascible demeanor. But his teammates love him, and there is a lot of evidence that Russ is a caring guy with a good heart.

It’s unlikely he has any chance to win the MVP if his team misses the postseason. It seems like he will finish no higher than third in voting even if they do. But his reign of triple doubles — and, more so, how he got them — was the most dazzling story of the year. I don’t know if it was the best story of the year, but his dominance over the past few months is wholly unique in league history. Nobody this size has ever so physically taken over games so often. He has been a mixture of Allen Iverson and Shaquille O’Neal, and it’s been a privilege to watch.

It would have been great to see Westbrook try to lead an undermanned Oklahoma squad against the Warriors in a doomed, Alamo-style offensive against an unbeatable foe. He would have thrown his entire existence at Steph and Klay and Draymond and Bogut and Iggy and Kerr. He would have lost, for sure — but Russ would have won in six or died trying.

Instead, the end may have arrived prematurely.

Russell Westbrook is dead.

Long live Russell Westbrook.

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