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Russell Westbrook’s great season should be capped off with MVP

By Albert Dadson

Apr 25, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) looks at the scoreboard late in the fourth quarter while the Thunder play the Houston Rockets in the second half in game five of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. Houston Rockets won 105 to 99 .Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 25, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) looks at the scoreboard late in the fourth quarter while the Thunder play the Houston Rockets in the second half in game five of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. Houston Rockets won 105 to 99 .Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports /
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Russell Westbrook
Apr 25, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) looks at the scoreboard late in the fourth quarter while the Thunder play the Houston Rockets in the second half in game five of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. Houston Rockets won 105 to 99 .Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports /

An MVP award for Russell Westbrook will be one of the only bright spots that the Thunder can take away from the 2016-17 NBA season.

The Oklahoma City Thunder overachieved this season when you look at the team on paper. They made it to the playoffs and Russell Westbrook solidified himself as one of the greatest players in the league by being the second player in NBA history to average a triple-double.

This was enough to put him in the MVP conversation and it may be enough for him to win it. The fact that they were a playoff team with a winning record helps Westbrook’s case also.

It means that his stats helped the team in a winning effort, so he wasn’t just padding stats.

The season was magical for him. He had moments that showed how dominant he was and how he could single-handedly will a team to victory. Game-winning shots and 100 percent effort on every play helped give him a season that would be equivalent to winning a Heisman for a college football player.

The MVP award this season for Westbrook would help the Thunder have something to build on and it would raise the team’s morale going into the next season.

Westbrook averaged a 30-point triple-double, and that was something that nobody thought they would ever see again after Oscar Robertson did it 55 years ago.

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    • The Thunder don’t have any other players that are the caliber of Westbrook and they lost Kevin Durant last summer, but through free agency and the draft they can be built back up.

    Westbrook guiding them to the playoffs helped the organization have some confidence that they can be relevant and they don’t have to be in rebuild mode. Being in rebuild mode is not good. They want to have pieces that help them continue on and make noise in the league for as long as the San Antonio Spurs have.

    Westbrook is a symbol of hope and that should hold some weight in the voting process. The only person that is in the MVP voting that is like that for their team is LeBron James. LeBron changed the face of the Cleveland Cavaliers for the second time and what he has done for his city is unquestionable.

    Westbrook can have a similar impact.

    The fans of OKC are loyal and faithful. If the Thunder have somebody like Westbrook on their team then that just helps the fans’ morale even more.

    Westbrook helps the team more than just on the floor. He affects everything about the organization and that is what will get him the MVP award.

    The triple-double average was also a symbol for how much he means to everybody involved in the organization, from the fans to the front office. He is a person that exemplifies the hustle of the city and this season was a tribute to the fans, almost telling them to never give up hope in the team.

    If Westbrook can work on his three-point shot to be at the level that James Harden has gotten his to, then he will be a complete player and impossible to stop. But after the season he had last year, if there is something that he can make better about himself then that he will probably rival LeBron for the best player in the league.

    That is something that nobody has been able to achieve.

    Next: 5 potential landing spots for Gordon Hayward in free agency

    The OKC fans and the Thunder organization have something to look forward to at the end of the season and if they put pieces around Westbrook then they will have something to look forward to at the beginning of next season.

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