Russell Westbrook is Starboy
Even experts of a craft are continuously in a state of flux. Successes of yesterday are immediately forgotten as focus shifts to the next endeavor to tackle and overcome. As this journey flows forward, opportunities arise, and stars like Russell Westbrook reach out and snatch them by the throat, fully immersing themselves in a new realm to conquer.
Westbrook is 27-years-old and currently embarking into the prime of his career. Vaulting into superstardom is a rough undertaking when pundits already speak of you in terms of the upper echelon of players in the world. Westbrook just finished a season where his statistical output — at least 23 points, 10 assists and 7.5 rebounds per game — have only been matched by a single man named Oscar Robertson… and that was 50 years ago.
Westbrook is an enigma. He’s nirvana to the eye. He’s the realization of what teenagers create on their game consoles around the world, even though they know it isn’t fair — he’s that guy. He’s been that guy. But, while we fully expect to see the same Westbrook we are all accustomed to seeing, he faces the virgin challenge of being the guy in Oklahoma City. Now it’s just him steering that combine with everyone in Oklahoma City looking to him to provide a new harvest of victory.
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In The Weeknd’s new song, Starboy, he speaks ill of his transformation into an elitist. The Weeknd’s genesis was as a mysterious, wild-haired, beautiful-voiced and largely unknown entity out of Canada. Even as his star rose, and fans flocked to buy his albums and view his concerts, he remained largely out of sight.
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The Starboy video begins with a masked man breaking into The Weeknd’s home, tying him up and suffocating him with a plastic bag over his head. The violence becomes a metaphor as the masked man reveals himself to be a new Weeknd; a Weeknd who has shed his trademark locks and in turn gained a new aura about himself.
This metamorphosis moves him into a new reality where being successful and elite is not enough, but proving that he’s better than everyone else is the real endeavor. The opening line of the song emits a twinge of animosity: “I’m tryna put you in the worst mood, ah”, all the while his melodic voice soothes your ears and tricks your mind into a portrayal of something beautiful. And it is, in fact, eerily joyful listening to words so self-assured, even if they come at the expense of another being, real or imagined.
Thunder practice comes to its conclusion and rather than ask about strategy, or his performance, or the team, the media arrives with an agenda. Russell is asked about Kevin Durant’s recent comments that his new teammates in Oakland are “selfless.” With a look that only he can provide, Westbrook listens, takes in the question and replies, “That’s cute.” Division between past teammates when one leaves for a new destination is not an original storyline, however, it is one that will be linked to these two stars forever.
These weren’t simply two marquee players at opposite junctions in their careers. They are both in the primes of their already illustrious careers, and there are numerous victories on the horizon for each. One chose to leave, for better or for worse, and the one who remains does not care, or at least he would like us to believe that he doesn’t. Westbrook is unique in that way. Others might sulk or feel sorry for themselves, but the iron fisted, thunderous Russ doesn’t give a damn.
The past is immediately irrelevant to Westbrook. There are more important things at hand than answering questions about how much he has spoken to the departed over the summer. Lest we forget a new dawn is upon the Oklahoma City Thunder. Durant is all this franchise has ever known and while a superstar in his own right, Russ has always been second fiddle. Always Robin, never Batman. But those are the days of old and the let-Russ-be-Russ era is here, his grandeur will not be sullied by talk of others.
Westbrook is a 6-foot-3 juggernaut and the most enigmatic, explosive, Starboy the NBA has ever seen at the point guard position. Two seasons ago, Durant only played 27 games due to injury, and in the 39 games Westbrook played without him, he averaged a preposterous 31.4 points, 9.2 assists and 7.9 rebounds with OKC notching a 22-17 record. All the elite professional athletes play with a chip on their shoulder. They possess the ability to turn ill-spoken words into motivation, perceived slights into fuel. Right now, Mr. Westbrook is taking inventory and filling his tank for this season and beyond.
Revenge is a fickle apparatus. Some would pine for revenge as a devious intention, while others could argue it as merely a means to an end. Westbrook — though it’s difficult to fathom — is only human. He feels pain, sorrow and anguish when times are tough. But this Starboy persona does not allow for distractions as is stated so eloquently in the second stanza by The Weeknd, “You talking bout me I don’t see the shade, switch up my style I take any lane.”
The Weeknd cut his symbolic hairstyle to initiate his progression. Westbrook shed his sidekick to symbolize his evolution, and while one made the decision and the other is merely reacting to a decision out of their control, the deviation from their perceived norm is similar. Fans, teammates, coaches and peers have only viewed Westbrook as part of a duo with Durant. Now a brash, exuberant and unapologetic leader will sit atop the throne of his franchise. He always viewed it as his own, but now so shall the masses.
“Look what you’ve done…”