It was easy to pick on the young and immature Russell Westbrook in recent seasons having supposed to play second fiddle to the nation’s best scorer, but didn’t always see eye to eye with that philosophy. Westbrook has always been the one to blame on Twitter and conversations based on his frequently missed shots, on bad shots, and acting as basketball was just an impromptu pickup game at the YMCA with your girl watching in the stands.
Well, his occasional recklessness still holds true, but his efficiency and growth has put him on the top of the NBA within the last month or so. Westbrook has picked up the pace for the often injured Kevin Durant this season by filling his own role plus picking up the void of Durant averaging 31 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 10 assists over the last ten games.
The Wild Child started his crazy chain of events after being a unanimous pick for the All-Star MVP in New York after a 41-point performance being shy of the all-time record just by one point. Since the All-Star game, Westbrook has put up games consisting of 34, 33, 39, 40, and 49 points. Wow! And to think he’s just been a scoring threat over that brief period of eight games, he has dished out the ball and has abundantly rebounded the basketball. He hasn’t recorded a game in which he had less than double-digit assists games since the All-Star break (10, 10, 17, 10, 11, 11, and 10) and his rebound numbers are as good as any center in the league right now (slight exaggeration) at 9.25 per game.
Westbrook’s recent numbers during his triple-double game outings have been mind-blowing. Over this four-game stretch he’s averaging 37 points, 13.5 rebounds and 10.5 assists per game. Westbrook’s performances as a whole in February (31.2 points/gm, 10.3 assists/gm, 9.1 rebounds/gm) was just the second time a player in NBA history has averaged 30 points, nine rebounds and ten assists per game over a particular calendar month. *Oscar Robertson was the only other player in history. Good company, Russ.
Westbrook has become an MVP candidate just over one month? Yes. But he has been playing at a high-level over the past few seasons, so it shouldn’t be something that is too unfamiliar or surprising to the NBA following. The biggest concern regarding Westbrook’s MVP candidacy, is the fact that he missed the whole month of December with a hand injury that was supposed to possibly keep him out until the All-Star break, but you know, like Russ was really going to holdout that long. C’mon now!
Another factor to consider will be the possibility of his team not making the playoffs in the heavily talented Western Conference. First off, if the Thunder can win enough games to solidify the eighth seed in the Western Conference, Scott Brooks deserves a ton of credit with an in and out starting lineup (Thunder’s past two starting lineups: Westbrook (out vs. LAL), Roberson, Singler, Ibaka, Kanter-doesn’t read playoff team, but somehow they have been winning games, even if it’s just the Lakers, Sixers, and Pacers). With Kevin Durant still on the bench with injury, if Westbrook can help guide this team to a playoff spot, that alone could stand as a big resume builder on his MVP status.
As you get to this point, you may see much of this article as an overreaction due to Westbrook just having an MVP-type month as is Hassan Whiteside for Miami. Well, you may have a point as Westbrook is still shooting way under 50% currently having a 43% field goal percentage over the span of the season which ranks 87th in the league (Melo has a better percentage than that…). Other MVP candidates have slightly better ratings: LeBron James-49%; Stephen Curry-48%; and James Harden 44%.
But of course, once the MVP race talk starts to come about, the definition of “MVP” comes into question. Does the award really go to the most “valuable” player or the most “outstanding” player each season. Many of the times the award supports both causes and goes to the right player, but then you ask yourself “what does most ‘valuable’ really mean?” Is it scoring 30 points a night, but not being anymore vital or important than some other players on other teams across the league? We just really don’t know. Heck, you could make the argument that Jason Kidd was the most valuable player in the 2012-13 season guiding the Knicks team though only averaging six points and three assists per game.
If giving the M”V”P award means giving it to the best player, then give it to James. If it means rewarding the player who has had the best season as a whole, then it’s down to Curry and Harden. But then you have to decide if those categories don’t mean anything and you give the award to the hottest and most exciting player, i.e. Westbrook. But since we have a little while to ponder this, this article may not mean a darn thing in three weeks. Gotta love sports.
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