There’s Some Russell Westbrook In All Of Us

Russell Westbrook is having a historic season, redefining the modern definition of “one-man show.” Lost amid the chatter of empty triple-doubles has been his path to MVP candidate.

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s 109-106 win against the Utah Jazz Feb. 28 perfectly encapsulated the Russell Westbrook experience.

When Westbrook entered the game with 8:50 left in the fourth quarter, the Thunder led the Jazz 92-81. Fast forward to 2:47 left in the game, when Rodney Hood made a 2-point jumper to give Utah the lead 97-96.

In nearly six minutes of game time, Westbrook went 1-for-8 from the field and notched one rebound, one assist and one turnover.

But that won’t be the lasting image of that game, as Westbrook redeemed himself in a massive way in the closing moments of the game.

Westbrook’s final stat line: 43 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists and eight turnovers. Another night at the office for the league’s best attraction this season.

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Shoot Your Shot

The numbers themselves are enough to widen even the most skeptical pair of eyes. Thirty triple-doubles, second all-time in a single season behind Oscar Robertson‘s 1961-62 season.

Five of those came while registering 40 or more points, tied with James Harden for the season lead and an all-time record that isn’t cemented yet.

The book is far from finished on Westbrook’s career, but replicating this season’s production and sheer volume will be tough to do in future years. This has evolved into something more terrifying than Kobe Bryant‘s 2005-06 “bleep you” season after Shaquille O’Neal was traded.

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Currently, Westbrook’s Thunder are 35-28. Through 63 games with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2005-06, Bryant was 33-30. That Laker team ended up losing a first-round series in seven games to the Phoenix Suns at the height of Steve Nash‘s powers.

Oklahoma City is currently in the bottom half of the Western Conference’s top eight teams. So when people look back at the Thunder’s 2016-17 season, they likely will mention Westbrook’s remarkable individual performance before the Thunder’s fate as a team.

Once every decade or so, the stars align for a magnificent individual player to go out for 82 games and say, “OK, bleep you, I’m going to embarrass whoever’s in front of me.”

In the 1980s, that was Michael Jordan’s 1987-88 season in which he won Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player Of The Year with a line of 35.0 points, 5.9 assists, 5.5 rebounds, 3.2 steals and 1.6 blocks per night.

In the 1990s, that season was Shaquille O’Neal’s 1999-00 season in which he averaged 29.7 points, 13.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3.0 blocks and averaged 38 points and 17 rebounds in the NBA Finals for the Lakers.

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In the 2000s, that season belonged to 2008-09 LeBron James, at the height of his athletic powers for the Cleveland Cavaliers, ready and willing to dunk on anyone and everything.

“The King” averaged 28.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.1 blocks per game and recorded the seventh-highest win shares per 48 minutes rate of all time.

Now, we are in the midst of Westbrook’s masterpiece, as he is on pace for the single highest usage percentage ever recorded in the NBA, and by a wide margin.

Currently, Westbrook’s usage percentage is 42.1 percent, which is the estimation of percentage of team plays used by that player while on the floor. The next highest usage rate is Bryant’s 2005-06 season at 38.74 percent.

His averages are 31.7 points, 10.6 rebounds, 10.0 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.4 blocks per game. If the season ended today, he’d finish with the fourth-highest offensive box plus-minus of all time, according to Basketball Reference.

Good Russ, Bad Russ

So is Russell attempting to pit himself against the other 29 teams or readying up with his platoon in the Thunder locker room? Is he cold and distrusting of the national media and opposing fan bases, or is he genuine and kind with the people that he knows and is comfortable with?

Is his unparalleled volume of box score versatility a necessity for the Thunder, or a terrible prerequisite that comes with Westbrook leading an NBA team?

That is only a fraction of the constant push and pull struggle of Good Russ-Bad Russ that wages on every night.

Westbrook will likely never be considered in the uppermost pantheon led by Jordan, Johnson, and James, but that’s OK. His flawed superstardom is what makes him so polarizing and leaves no middle ground in the determination of his play by each who watch him.

The roller coaster play that never slows with No. 0 in the game is both exhilarating and terrifying, for both sides.

False Idols

Fandom is a fickle thing. We want our favorite players to be personable and open when talking about themselves and others, but if they’re too open then we criticize them for betraying the trust and unspoken code of the team.

We want our favorite players to be spotless, to not say anything that changes our perception of them or upsets us. We also want them to always make the right play, as all fans specialize in revisionist history.

And in that image, we create unrealistic expectations for these guys who experience peaks and valleys in life just as anyone does.

That’s why I used to be a Russell Westbrook skeptic, as many still are. I saw the requested clear outs, the waving hand to motion each of his teammates to their respective corners to allow him to go 1-on-1.

I saw the wild forays into the painted area, jumping with no idea what he was going to do until he chucked the ball into the third row. And I saw the gambling tendencies defensively that cost his team points.

But I started watching how hard he plays, every single night, every single game and his unabashed emotion and vitriol toward the other team coupled with his staunch loyalty to his teammates.

Some athletes are harder to relate to than others. No one is perfect, but some closer to it than most.

Those include the Mount Rushmore candidates of the sport, the ones whose legacy can’t be touched, who ground through injuries and hardship and have a Rolodex full of moments that any basketball fan can call upon by memory during a debate at the bar.

But you can’t see yourself in those guys. In Westbrook, I found a player who kept things close to the vest with his teammates, and even more so with the media. In Lee Jenkins’ piece on Westbrook over the summer, Thunder center Steven Adams said of Westbrook:

"“I don’t know if Russ was hurt, because he’d never tell me, and he’d definitely never tell you.”"

Most of the time with the media, Russell is curt and chilly with his comments to most reporters. It’s helped portray this image of remaining aloof and distant among the national media and fans.

But in Oklahoma City, where he’s developed relationships with the Thunder organization and the people who cover it, he’s much warmer. Westbrook went so far as to buy Thunder sideline reporter Lesley McCaslin a baby stroller for her incoming child, as Jenkins evidenced in his story.

So when Westbrook signed the three-year, $86 million extension with the Thunder over the summer, Russell only had this to say to Jenkins about the decision:

"“You remember the people you’ve been in the trenches with.”"

I liked that. I liked that when it was easiest to request a trade or not sign the extension, he decided to sign it anyway. Of course he’ll be compensated financially more if he stays in Oklahoma City, but that felt secondary.

For a guy that doesn’t mince words, I almost felt like if it really was about the money he would’ve put out a veiled statement saying as much.

The Culmination Of Russy

Fast forward to this season, where Westbrook has attempted to set the “attempts” record in almost every offensive statistical category on fire, and his teammates still seem to like him. In the age of super teams, he’s elected to stay, at least for now.

And with it, he snarls at every opposing fan base, doesn’t quit on plays, doesn’t greet opponents before games and sticks with his guys. It’s an intoxicating combination of an old-school mindset and an otherworldly talent level.

And that’s why this was my favorite moment of the entire season, so far.

I didn’t really care about the Durant-Westbrook feud or that being the climax. I only cared about how all of the Thunder players rushed to meet Westbrook and swallowed him into a sort of circle of pettiness and curses sent towards No. 35.

It showed for a moment genuine emotion on both sides in the heat of competition, the snapshots we live for in sports.

Westbrook has grown up a lot over the last few years. He’s learned to deal with the attention and pressure and has taken the mantle of dealing with the media nightly with Durant’s departure this year.

He’s learned to just be Russell and that when he does that he’s really good at what he does, on the court and off.

It’s been fun to live through Westbrook’s growing pains, as I follow them nightly. We all have to do things we don’t want to do. He has to talk to the media, I have to pay student loans. He goes out and drops a 40-point triple-double on the road, I completed my first interview with an NBA player.

They’re not the same, but it’s therapeutic to follow a player and live with their ups and downs, because you have those too. It’s why this season has been so rewarding to see Westbrook blossom as a leader and MVP frontrunner.

Check Your Biases

I realize that as I descend deeper into the field of journalism, my favoritism will have to be checked at the door. But I suspect a thunderous Westbrook dunk that ignites the crowd or multiple-effort play and finish will always emit an involuntary fist pump out of me.

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That’s the best part of doing something that you love, you can’t help but enjoy it.