Why Russ belongs in the MVP discussion
Russell Westbrook rarely does anything quietly.
Brash. Bold. Brazen. That has long been his modus operandi whether strutting into the arena or roaring after a dunk or woofing at a referee. It’s strange, then, to say the Thunder superstar is doing anything on the down low.
But here you go — Westbrook is quietly building an MVP case.
Now, before we go any further, I don’t think anyone other than James Harden is going to win the NBA’s top individual award. The Rockets’ shooting star has built such a lead on the field
that it would take an utter collapse for anyone to catch him.
Westbrook, though, belongs in the group giving chase.
But even as Oklahoma City seeks to extend its six-game winning streak in Boston on Tuesday after an attentiongrabbing triumph at Toronto on Sunday, Westbrook is a forgotten man in the MVP conversation. There’s talk about Anthony Davis and LeBron James and DeMar DeRozan and Kyrie Irving and Damian Lillard belonging on the ballot with Harden. Those guys deserve a spot in the MVP discourse. All
of them are having great seasons.
But so is Westbrook. He could average a triple double again this season.
Yes, the seemingly unattainable height that he scaled last season is reachable once again. Only Oscar Robertson and Westbrook have ever averaged a triple double for a season, and no one has ever done it twice much less in back-toback seasons.
But with less than a month left in the regular season, the possibility grows by the day.
Going into Tuesday night’s game at Boston, Westbrook is averaging 25.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists a game. A double-digit scoring average for the season was assured long ago, but
to secure double-digit averages in the other two categories he’ll need 121 rebounds and 83 assists over the last 10 games of the season.
That means 12.1 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game the rest of the way.
Big numbers, sure, but as the stakes get higher, the season longer, Westbrook is finding a higher gear. Since the All-Star Break, he’s averaging 32.7 points, 11.1 rebounds and 9.5 assists a game, and in terms of rebounding and assisting, his marks are only going up.
In the last five games — all triple doubles for Sir Russ — he’s averaging 11.4 rebounds and 11.6 assists along with 24.6 points.
He is playing some of his best basketball of the season.
So is the Thunder. This is a surging team because Westbrook is surging, and frankly, if OKC keeps up this momentum, he will be the engine that drives it. And if the Thunder keeps rolling, it will come against the NBA’s toughest remaining schedule. No team has a gauntlet of finishing opponents with a better combined winning percentage than OKC.
And yet, no team has anyone playing any better than Westbrook is right now. He seems to have found a groove where he is at his best with this remade roster. During this six-game winning streak, he has seen his stats go up while his shots go down, namely his shots from behind the arc.
He’s attempted only
six 3-pointers during this surge.
Not six a game.
Six total. Westbrook can make those shots, of course, but he can make the ones at the rim or from the elbow way more. His shot selection has been unbelievably good, and as a result, his efficiency has spiked.
In that monster game Sunday at Toronto, for example, he scored 37 points on only 22 attempts.
Just one of those shots was a 3-pointer.
Monster numbers a season ago were necessary; Westbrook simply had to carry that decimated roster if there was any chance of winning games or going to the playoffs. This season, his role is vastly different
with Paul George and Carmelo Anthony, and yet, his play of late is a reminder of his importance.
There is no more valuable player to the Thunder than Westbrook.
This team goes as he goes.
And if Westbrook keeps going the way he has been in recent weeks, he will be hard to ignore. He’ll boldly take a place in that group chasing Harden. He’ll brazenly insert himself in the MVP conversation.
Quiet, after all, isn't his forte.