Westbrook's future now seems murky in Houston

Russell Westbrook has evoked many emotions since he came across our field of vision a dozen years ago. Including with me.

Westbrook has produced thrills, anger, inspiration, disappointment, bewilderment and pride.

Add another feeling to the list. Pity. During the NBA playoffs, I found myself feeling a little sorry for Westbrook.

He looked lost with the Houston Rockets, both during their seven-game survival of the Thunder and their five-game elimination by the Lakers.

Maybe he still was injured. Maybe the pandemic break threw him off his game. Maybe the playoff format meant an opponent can hone in on the dysfunction of a Westbrook/ James Harden tandem.

I don't know. But Westbrook, game after game, looked like Worstbrook. He would produce a clunker once a month or so with the Thunder, a 4-for-21 shooting game with more turnovers than assists. Then the next dozen games he would be back on the triple double treadmill, flying through the air with the greatest of geez, regaling us with his wonders on the basketball court.

There was none of that in the playoffs. And it was painfully evident. Westbrook in a supplemental role is like Bette Davis in a cameo. Steals the scene even by doing nothing.

Westbrook looked lost and frustrated.

Westbrook's first season away from Oklahoma City was typically strong before the March suspension of the league. His regularseason numbers were stout as always: 27.2 points per game, with 7.9 rebounds and 7.0 assists. Last week came word that Westbrook was third-team all-NBA.

Westbrook finally descended from Mount Triple Double, but that was to be expected. He turned 31 in November and he had Harden sitting alongside on the stagecoach. Westbrook is accustomed to sharing superstar duties (Kevin Durant, Paul George), but he's not accustomed to sharing ballhandling duties.

Plus, it's more difficult to get rebounds when your teammates haven't signed a holy oath to step aside and let you have two or three freebies a game, as Steven Adams and Co. did.

And besides, Westbrook's status was made. Three straight years of averaging a triple double with the Thunder. Who needed a fourth? Westbrook has triple the number of nonWestbrook triple-double seasons in NBA history.

But in the playoffs, it was not the same old Westbrook. He was suffering from a quadricep injury and missed the first four games of the first-round series against the Thunder.

After returning for the final three games against OKC and the five games against the Lakers, Westbrook looked out of rhythm, even confused.

The Lakers, particularly, flat out refused to guard Westbrook when he was on the perimeter. The Thunder showed him a little more respect, maybe out of loyalty.

But Westbrook hardly looked like a perennial allstar making $38.5 million, with his team still on the hook for salaries of $41.3 million, $44.2 million and $47.0 million the next three years.

“It was just very frustrating, honestly, for me, knowing in the postseason you're supposed to elevate your game,” said Westbrook. “I was just trying to catch a rhythm … but there was not time for that.” The numbers are striking. In three games against OKC, Westbrook averaged 14.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.0 turnovers per game. He shot 41.7 percent from the field but made just one of six 3-pointers and three of six foul shots.

Against the Lakers, Westbrook averaged 19.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 4.2 assists per game. He shot 42.4 percent from the field but made just seven of 27 3-point shots and just 14 of 26 foul shots.

Houston was 3-5 in playoff games in which Westbrook played, but in only two of those did he have a positive plus-minus -- the Rockets were outscored with Westbrook on the court in six of those games.

His player efficiency rating was 12.2 in this postseason, by far the lowest of his playoff career. His .464 true shooting percentage (which accounts for 3-point shots and foul shots) was the lowest of his postseason career. His .229 free-throw rate was the lowest of his postseason career.

And now Houston forges ahead without coach Mike D'Antoni, who failed to reach a contractual agreement with the Rockets, and an old and expensive roster, with crazy-expensive contracts for Harden and Westbrook. With no young assets in which to build around or deal.

The backside of Westbrook's career might not look pretty.

And that makes me sad, because I remember all those winter nights when he gave Oklahomans a show that rarely has been equaled in NBA history.