Russell Westbrook deserves his roses whether you love him or hate him

Like the ocean’s tides, the NBA is ever-changing; players rise or fall monthly, teams get hot or cold weekly, and coaches fail or succeed daily. It teeters between chaotic and mundane, but still, the league pushes on, changing all the while, thus rendering certainty as more of an ideal than a realistic possibility. However, one of the few guarantees within the NBAs broad reach that is, has been, and forever will be certain is the divisiveness regarding Russell Westbrook.

On one side of the coin, the more appreciative subgroup of the basketball-viewing public cannot help but watch Westbrook’s mid-air acrobatics and McLaren-esque motor with wide eyes and dropped jaws. You can hardly blame them, either. Viewing Westbrook from this perspective is chaos and entertainment at its finest, the basketball embodiment of mainlining adrenaline Jason Statham-style. When Russell Westbrook is good, he’s really freakin’ good.

After breaking a record once believed to be unbreakable, it is time we start appreciating Russell Westbrook for who he is rather than who we want him to be.

But on the other side of the coin—the “nerd” side of the coin—Russ is a bit of a hoops headache. When Westbrook is bad, a high-speed chase that ends in a five-car pile-up somehow pales in comparison. That same blazing intensity he plays with, despite the many moments of amazement it offers, can haplessly accomplish more harm than good. As he occasionally burns his team with frenetic lack of control on offense and woeful lapses on defense, it seems understandable as to why some fail to value the most electrifying player the NBA has ever seen.