Eras complicate comparisons
But between fans not deeming Westbrook worthy of an All-Star starter spot and the notion that the Houston Rockets’ James Harden is the MVP front-runner, Westbrook’s season seems destined to be underappreciated — at least when it comes to the people who don’t truly understand how hard it is to get a triple-double.
“I admire Westbrook for what he’s doing; he’s just playing outstanding basketball,” Robertson told USA TODAY Sports. “There’s a little comparison ( between their special seasons), but not a lot. I think what he’s doing is outstanding, myself, especially with a team that’s been weakened since Kevin Durant left. That makes a big difference. So therefore, he’s taken it upon himself to try to do whatever he can to help his team to win.”
Said Jerry West, a fellow Hall of Famer and Warriors executive board member who has been close friends with Robertson since they became early titans of the game, “It’s remarkable what (Westbrook) is accomplishing. He’s one of the freakiest athletes I’ve ever seen in this whole league in my lifetime. Some of the things he does, he’s like Superman when he plays the game. I admire him greatly. I do. I admire him greatly.”
Added Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who won three of his five championships alongside Michael Jordan with the Chicago Bulls: “I think it’s an incredible stat, and there’s only a very, very small handful of players in the league who are even capable. Obviously Russell, and you can throw KD (Durant) in there, James Harden, LeBron (James). It takes a unique player, and I also think it takes unique circumstances.
“The way their team is constructed now, they run everything through him, so it affords him that opportunity to really handle the ball more and be the focal point every time down. It probably was the same way with Oscar. I think LeBron, if the circumstances were right, he could do it. But it’s remarkable … I think it’s an unbelievable achievement.”
Yet when it comes to sports milestones that demand the country’s attention, Westbrook’s campaign doesn’t seem to resonate with the masses like, say, the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run chase of Roger Maris’ 61 mark in 1998. In terms of capturing the singular spotlight, it even pales in comparison to the Warriors’ push for 73 wins last season. Yet there’s a whole lot more hype surrounding him than Robertson ever enjoyed.
He missed out on the MVP for that 1961-62 season, finishing third behind Bill Russell (who averaged 18.9 points and 23.6 rebounds for the 60-20 Boston Celtics) and Wilt Chamberlain (who averaged 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds for the 49-31 Philadelphia Warriors) when there were just nine teams. But during that bygone era in which sports statistics were in their infancy, Robertson — and everyone else, for that matter — was completely unaware he had made triple-double history.
“When I was doing it, it wasn’t a highlight at all,” said Robertson, who averaged 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 11.4 assists for a Cincinnati Royals team that finished the regular season with a record of 43-37. “I really didn’t know anything about it, nor did the NBA. I think that later on, when certain people started getting tri- ple-doubles, (NBA officials) went back into the archives and got it. … The NBA was not sophisticated enough, and they just didn’t care that much about it.”
Even with Westbrook trying to finish this feat, the debate about which player’s season was better has inevitably begun. But it’s a tough topic, in large part because the style of play is so much different than it was then.
According to pace-of-play estimates on Basketball-reference.com, Westbrook’s Thunder are going at a snail’s pace compared with Robertson’s Royals: 97.7 possessions per 48 minutes vs. 124.9 for those Royals. What’s more, Robertson averaged nearly 10 more minutes per game that season than Westbrook is at the moment (44.3 to 34.7). Then again, Robertson was the more efficient scorer (47.8% shooting compared with Westbrook’s 42%).
“People are going to say what they want,” Robertson said when asked about the comparison of eras. “(But) you can’t go back and say, ‘Well, if a guy could play in this day and age, or this kid could play back years ago,’ because it’s a totally different game. (Back then), Russell, Chamberlain, Nate Thurmond, Willis (Reed), (Walt) Bellamy, they were shot-blockers, and they didn’t go out from underneath the basket. They stayed underneath the basket the whole game. … It’s a different game.”
“It’s a different league — completely different,” West said. “And Oscar would still have great numbers today.”
Yet for all the focus on Westbrook’s scoring (he leads the league) and playmaking (third in assists), it’s Westbrook’s rebounding that most impresses West. Of the NBA’s 24 top-ranked rebounders this season, he’s the only one — at No. 12 — who doesn’t play in the frontcourt.
“It doesn’t surprise me that he scores, and he gets assists,” West said. “But his instinct to rebound the ball is second to none. I think that’s what I admire most about what he’s accomplished is that his rebounding numbers are just ridiculous.”