Wizards coach Brooks: Westbrook is MVP
An NBA prediction as the end of the regular season nears: Russell Westbrook will become the first and only other player since Oscar Robertson 55 years ago to average a triple- double for an entire season and he won’t win the NBA’s MVP award. Just think about that for aminute. It might not turn out to be true. The Oklahoma City Thunder star could beat out the Houston Rockets’ James Harden, the San Antonio Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard and the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James.
But with Westbrook’s Thunder ( 3929) sixth in the Western Conference, there is a different history standing between him and the award: Since 1976, when Kareem Abdul- Jabbar won the award despite his Los Angeles Lakers finishing sixth in the West, every MVP has come from a team that finished at least fourth in its conference.
Robertson knows this as well as anyone. He was third in MVP voting behind Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain during that celebrated 1961- 62 season in which he averaged a triple- double for a Cincinnati Royals team that finished 43- 37.
Yet if ever there were a time to buck that trend, to honor a player who is doing something so many believed would never be done again, while also lifting his team to unexpected heights after Kevin Durant left for the Golden State Warriors, this might be it, right?
That’s how Washington Wizards coach Scott Brooks sees it.
As perspectives go, Brooks — who coached Harden and Westbrook during his eight seasons with the Thunder and has a fringe MVP candidate of his own in the Wizards’ John Wall — might have the best. While he struggled to pick one player during a recent chat with USA TODAY Sports, he said the history that Westbrook is making ( league- leading 31.7 points, 10.5 rebounds and third- best 10.4 assists per game), combined with the Thunder’s success, put him above the rest.
“You have to weigh ( the overall record) a little bit into it, but it’s not like ( the Thunder aren’t) making the playoffs, like they’re not having a successful season,” Brooks said. “I mean, they’ve got a lot of talent, and they’re going to win, probably, 50- something games ( they’re on pace to win 47). And Russell is a big part of that.
“Fortunately for me, I got to see behind the scenes who Russell is, and if he doesn’t win it, he definitely has an MVP character, and, like I said, it’s hard to argue a triple- double.
“What he’s doing, I’ min awe, like a lot of players and coaches and fans. He’s the only guy I’ve been around that can play back- to- back in the same game and still have numbers in that same game and energy in the tank. He has a motor like — I mean he’s phenomenal.”
Make no mistake, however, this is an extremely tight and incredibly impressive race.
Harden’s Rockets ( 47- 21, third in the West) are significantly better than the Thunder, and his production — 28.9 points ( third), 11.3 assists ( first) and 8.0 rebounds — is historic in its own right. According to Basketball- reference. com, only Robertson has hit those marks for an entire season.
Meanwhile, James’ Cavs ( 45- 22) are atop the Eastern Conference while he’s averaging 26.0 points, a career- high 8.9 assists and 8.4 rebounds.
Yet no one has as unique a candidacy as Leonard, whose two- way play is simply unmatched. The back- to- back winner of the Defensive Player of the Year award is averaging 26.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game.
“What’s crazy is all the talk, that he’s just coming on now,” Brooks said of Leonard. “He’s been there. He was there in November. The guy is one of the best players in the league, and if you gave him it, you can’t really argue too much.”