All-Star stunner
NBA shocker: Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook misses cut to be All-Star starter,
The notion that Russell Westbrook could average a triple-double yet not win the NBA’s MVP award was tough enough to process. But Westbrook not starting in the All- Star Game, with the Warriors’ Stephen Curry being given the spot? Absurd. The Westbrook snub falls on the fans. Even with the NBA changing the voting system this season, with media and players each getting 25% to go with the fans’ 50%, this unfortunate pick sneaked through. Curry’s 1,848,121 votes were second to LeBron James’ 1,893,751. Westbrook was third among West guards with 1,575,865. The players and media put Curry third.
This isn’t a criticism of Curry. The back-to-back MVP has been a bona fide All- Star this season, averaging 24.6 points, 6.1 assists and 4.2 rebounds while helping new addition and fellow All-Star starter Kevin Durant get off to a tremendous start. But compared with last season, when he set an NBA record for three-pointers (402) while leading the way in the Warriors’ unprecedented 73-win campaign, he’s not the one making history this time.
It’s late January, and Westbrook (30.6, 10.6 rebounds, 10.4 assists per game) is still on pace to become the only player besides Oscar Robertson to average a triple-double.
There’s a force-of-will factor that has been a sight to behold with Westbrook, and that should have counted for something with the fans. He plays insanely hard every night, with his inefficiency and turnover woes (career-high 5.5 per game) partly the result of the massive load on his shoulders. In this age of rest and recovery for the NBA’s stars, he can’t take a night off because, well, the Thunder would likely get waxed (he has played in all 44 games.
Starting in the All- Star Game, let alone starting in place of the player who helped recruit Durant out of Oklahoma City last summer, would have been the right and just outcome here.