Knees buckle with nerves. Opposing coaches start to sigh. Trailing big men flail their arms in a hopeless attempt to look useful. Meanwhile, teammates get ready for the highlights. When Russell Westbrook is tearing down an open court, an unrelenting force of athleticism in a powerful, 6’3″ frame, he tends to have this effect. From the second he elevates to snatch a defensive rebound and surveys the floor, a Westbrook transition dunk is the perfect microcosm of his impact on the court.
The 2016 version of Westbrook is the best we’ve seen so far. He charges around with such energy, eyes twitching as he scans the floor, looking for ways he can pick apart an opposing defense. With the kind of athleticism that puts almost any player to shame and the aerial authority to rise above players a foot taller, Westbrook continues to change the game with the way he attacks the basket, through both rebounding and scoring. 39.3 percent of his field goal attempts come within three feet, which is a breath of fresh air in today’s NBA.
The league has fallen deeply in love with the magic of Stephen Curry and the dominance of reliable three-point shooting. It’s taken over. But as Curry’s shooting holds everyone in awe, other great players (point guards like Westbrook and Chris Paul in particular) are being overlooked. They can’t match his play; no one can right now. No one can equal his increasing range, ridiculous efficiency, and effortless shot creation. But that’s not the point. Curry doesn’t need to be the point of comparison for everyone else. He has been in a league of his own this season, but that doesn’t we can’t appreciate a player like Westbrook on his own terms.
The numerous areas of the game on which Westbrook has an effect are expanding, and in all of those areas he is almost unmatched. He’s thrown aside his former reputation as a ball-hog by ranking second in assists per game with a career-high 10.3. He’s even raised his field goal percentage to a career-high 46.3, elevating his efficiency at the rim and from everywhere else inside the arc.
Beyond that, Westbrook ranks second in box plus-minus (10.4), second in offensive win shares (8.3), second in total win shares (11.3), and second in player efficiency rating (28.9); in each of these categories, he is bettered only by Stephen Curry. At least Russ has him beat for steals with a league-best 2.2 per game.
Yet a point guard like Westbrook, who has been subjected to heavy criticism through most of his career, is arguably at a greater disadvantage than anyone when it comes to the Curry comparisons. The fact Steph might be on the best regular season team of all time doesn’t help Russ either.
Nevertheless, we shouldn’t overlook another legend in the making. We can’t ask Russell Westbrook to be (or surpass) Stephen Curry because he’s a different basketball beast altogether. He’s a player built on aggression rather than grace. Someone focused on explosive scoring rather than picking off enemies from absurd range or weaving past them with silky handles.
And that’s just the basis of their scoring. The competitive drive at the core of Westbrook’s game has him on a path towards a totally different kind of legacy than the soon-to-be 2016 MVP.
When it comes to earning the seal of approval from another player, a comparison to Kobe Bryant from Kobe Bryant is as good as it gets. Kobe epitomizes the will a player needs to reach their potential, the focus necessary in a relentless pursuit of greatness. Westbrook has these same characteristics running through his hyperactive body, and a killer instinct that was honed long before he made it to the NBA.
Westbrook was still a young hopeful at college, setting himself apart with the tenacity of a gritty veteran, not the naivety of a fresh-faced teenager. It was the summer between his freshman and sophomore years at UCLA when Westbrook put that drive to use. As Chris Palmer wrote for Bleacher Report, he tested his abilities against some of the best opponents he could hope for as he looked to push his game and his body to new heights:
“He’d wake at 6 a.m. every morning and head to the gym to get shots up, followed by an intense weightlifting session.
After his summer classes, Westbrook would head over to the old Men’s Gym on campus for pickup games against whatever pros happened to be in town. Westbrook tested his ability against the likes of Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Carmelo Anthony. Few, if any, of the pros taking the floor with him could match his speed or athleticism.
‘Nobody wanted to guard Russ,’ says [Luc] Mbah a Moute.”
Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News has reported a comment from Kobe, who appeared to be taken aback with Russ’s level of competitiveness as a teenager. The intensity, the anger, the aggression; it was all there already.
Westbrook was a relentless competitor before playing in the NBA was even close to being a reality. Now that his dream has materialized, the stakes are higher and the opposition has improved, the aggressive drive that defines his game has only intensified.
If donning a mask to play just days after denting his head didn’t solidify his status as the league’s Terminator, his play and tenacity certainly will.
This shouldn’t be overlooked or taken for granted even for a second. No matter how many games in which Curry racks up 10 threes and everyone loses their minds, or how often he reminds us that he’s the best player in the NBA, Westbrook will remain a rare talent.
A quick glance at the history books only strengthens Westbrook’s case. There are only two players who have ever averaged a stat line of at least 20 points, 7.5 rebounds and 10 assists per game for an entire season. Mr. triple-double himself, Oscar Robertson, has done so four times, while Magic Johnson has done so once. Russell Westbrook will be only the third player to join this group of rarefied talents if he maintains his current marks of 24.3 points, 7.6 rebounds and 10.3 assists (per Basketball Reference).
To make this likely feat even more impressive, Westbrook has tallied these numbers in only 34.6 minutes per game against more developed athletic competition than either Robertson or Magic had to face. Even with a high usage rate of 32.1, there’s no way to deny Westbrook’s evolution and diverse impact on the game. It goes without saying that his performance doesn’t alter or diminish the incredible achievements of Robertson and Magic, but it does show how much Russ has had to overcome as a 6’3″ point guard in today’s NBA, where it’s not quite so easy for a few select athletes to reign over their physically inferior opponents. And when it comes to rebounding, Magic also had the perk of being 6’9″.
Westbrook doesn’t rebound at such a startling rate due only to his rare athleticism, though. He attacks the glass with a competitive intensity that was evident when he was at UCLA, and to any lucky spectator who got to catch a glimpse of him playing in pickup games before professional superstardom came his way. It’s something that needs to be appreciated for technical and physical reasons as well as the sheer focus it takes. It’s helped Westbrook achieve the 24th highest career PER in the history of the NBA (22.82), a number which is only increasing by the season.
His furious competitiveness isn’t a trait we see very often, not to this extent. And while certain aspects of his game leave something to be desired — mainly his defensive awareness and positioning, his turnover rate, and his shot selection in late-game situations — he’s still a rare specimen.
Similarly to another small giant by the name of Allen Iverson, Westbrook throws around his slightly taller, more muscular frame with the same kind of reckless abandon. No opponent is too good, no level of fatigue is too much, and anything on the court can be achieved with the right mindset. But while Iverson rising past opponents for spectacular plays was often hard to believe, they’ve become the norm for Westbrook. When he attacks the rim, it’s the 7-footers who are at a disadvantage; not the dwarfed point guard.
At times, the relentless aggression can hurt him. It can lead to erratic shot selection and turnovers, which is still the key weakness of his game, holding back both his reputation and efficiency. There are moments when Westbrook just takes too many tough shots, as he did on a 10-of-29 shooting night in the Thunder’s heartbreaking loss to the Warriors on February 27. But in his following performance, Russ was the epitome of efficiency. He tallied 20 points with only eight shots and seven free throw attempts, adding 13 rebounds and 15 assists to give him his ninth triple-double of the season. As the triple-doubles mount up, each one serves as evidence to support the fact that he plays harder than anyone. And alongside his scoring and rebounding, Westbrook has elevated his dynamic and instinctive passing this season to join the highest level of playmakers.
However, no matter how impressive his continued improvement, a remarkable season by Westbrook could soon be forgotten. Understandably, it’s Curry who’s grabbed our attention. To suggest he doesn’t deserve it wouldn’t be fair to what he’s doing. But there’s another star at the side of the stage who would be thoroughly deserving of the main spotlight if he was fortunate enough to be in the league at another time, or in different circumstances. A time when Stephen Curry’s Warriors don’t dominate so freely and a group like the Thunder had a better chance to stand out.
Westbrook still has a lot to prove, especially without a championship ring. Still, there’s no denying that, in the right situation with the right team, he has the potential to achieve anything he wants. He wasn’t titled a relentless competitor by Kobe without reason.
Who knows when he’ll have a legitimate shot at a title, but he certainly has the drive and talent to get the ring his rare talent deserves. In the meantime, let’s just appreciate everything Russell Westbrook is doing, and look forward to seeing where he’s headed.
Because as is always the case with Russ, he’ll be going there at a horrifying pace.