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It was a lovely spring basketball evening in Oklahoma City. Far removed from July 4th and what at the time seemed like the end of the world for Thunder basketball fans like myself. I’d almost have to describe it as surreal.

Russell Westbrook garnered his 41st triple double of the season on a workmanlike 12 point, 13 rebound, 13 assist night. It was a game in which he didn’t have to work all that hard as his teammates showed up in droves and gave him the help he needs on a more consistent basis for this team to take their game to the next level. It was fitting on this historic night the Thunder played their best game since winning in Toronto on March 16th, and perhaps played one of their better games of the entire season by torching the Milwaukee Bucks 110-79.

We’ve seen him grow up in Oklahoma City. Sam Presti took a chance on him and what we’ve seen is a young player develop into one of the best of this generation and beyond as he only needs one more triple double to break Oscar’s record and have it as his own. He needs 16 assists in these last five games to average a triple double for the entire season. When Kobe gave him the moniker Bad Little Dude he knew exactly what he was talking about.

OKC improved to 44-33 on the season on this glorious night. When Bad Little Dude has tripled doubled the Thunder are 32-9, when he hasn’t the Thunder are 12-24. MVP, MVP…..duh.

This Thunder team is the third youngest in the entire NBA and if they win three of their last five games they’ll end up 47-35. For this Thunder team to win anything close to fifty games is a testament to why Russell Westbrook should be this season’s MVP.

Keep this in mind, in the Thunder’s first season in Oklahoma City these young guys were on the roster…Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka, a young Nick Collison, Nenad and others, and you know what their record was…23-59.

What I’m saying here is that other than Russell Westbrook there has been no other constant variable for the Thunder this basketball season. Oladipo has been injured twice. Adams has had some issues offensively. Kanter decided to break his own arm. Andre Roberson still has a broken shot. Young guys like Abrines, Sabonis, Grant, and Christon have gone poof into the night in multiple NBA arenas not located in Bricktown…and sometimes even at home.

But through it all, Russell Westbrook has kept his composure, led this team, and in the process set NBA history. MVP means just that — Most Valuable Player. Who’s the most valuable player to the their respective team is the question. My take is very simple…it’s Russell Westbrook at No. 1 and James Harden at No. 2 because Harden has a much better supporting cast around him which has been taylor crafted by his GM to fit Harden’s specific skill set. Imagine for a second if Russell had Trevor Ariza as his three, or Ryan Anderson as his stretch four, or of all things Patrick Beverly as his back up point guard…imagine all those three things and tell me you don’t think this team would have had a few more wins.

But you know what, I’ve never heard Westbrook bitch about any of that publicly. He’s hung with the hand which he was dealt and made this team respectable…and that’s why he easily has my MVP vote.

Congrats to Russell Westbrook and thanks for a season I’ll never forget.

I love the ladies with the triple double stat lines in the stands. It was fitting. I have to be honest, there was a collective lump in the throat of Thunder Nation on the tenth assist.

It was a great tournament with Oregon, South Carolina, and Gonzaga all making historic runs. But in the end it was a story of redemption as Roy Williams and his Tar Heels came back from last year’s tough loss to Villanova to claim the title. As a basketball fan, you couldn’t have ask for more compelling storylines. Great stuff.

Russell Westbrook notched his 40th triple double of the season and is now only needs one more to tie Oscar Robertson’s 1960-’61 season mark. Westbrook’s numbers were 40 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists. Otherwise, it was a bleak afternoon of basketball in Oklahoma City as the Thunder as a team brought little edge or emotion to the game and lost by a count of 113-101. This was the first ever time since the Sonics move to Oklahoma City in which Charlotte has won in Chesapeake Energy Arena in the Thunder era.

Other than Westbrook and perhaps Andre Roberson, the performance by the Thunder was abysmal and disappointing. Take away the two miracle comebacks fueled by Westbrook and this team has played like a dead team walking for two weeks. I hate to write this again , but without Westbrook, this team would be no different than the Lakers, the Suns, the Magic, and the Nets and in the hunt for draft lottery position.

Especially disappointing has been the recent play of Steven Adams, Victor Oladipo, and Enes Kanter. There’s no reason for any of these three players to be tired, they’ve all missed time with injuries this season and they’re expected to be the the second, third, and fourth best players on this team. They’re all being paid well, this team needs them to produce accordingly and give Westbrook help every night.

Here’s what they produced on Sunday afternoon. In 76 combined minutes of play, they went a collective 11-28 from the field and as a group scored 30 points. At a minimum, these three need to be scoring 42-44 points a game and giving this team something it can count on other than Russell Westbrook.

Alex Abrines and Doug McDermott were even worse. They’re on this roster to fill one specific need, namely three point shooting scoring. In 25 minutes of combined play, Abrines and McDermott didn’t make a shot and both went scorless..at HOME. Are you kidding?

Brian Davis on the Fox Network said something the other night which literally made me shake my head. He said he will be voting in Billy Donovan third on his Coach of the Year ballot. I hope he was kidding. I measure coaching in incremental improvement both individually and as a team. Other than Westbrook, there’s not one player on this team who has moved the needle individually enough to make this a better team than it was on opening night against the Sixers in Philly. Go through the roster yourself and see if you can make an argument for improvement. Except for Westbrook, I can’t make that argument for one single player on the team, at least on a consistent basis.

My Coach of the Year ballot would go 1 Brad Stevens, Boston, 2 Mike D’ Antoni, Houston, and 3 Scott Brooks, Washington.

With this loss, OKC stands at 43-33 and ‘still’ in the No. 6 seeding position. The Thunder stand a game and half ahead of Memphis, but OKC still has to play at Memphis on Wednesday. Given the way this team is playing right now, there’s not a game which could be labeled as a sure win.

Russell Westbrook needs some help. I feel like I’ve written this a thousand times this season, and it’s not like Sam Presti isn’t paying some nice money for Adams, Oladipo, and Kanter to give Westbrook some help. As a group it’s very simple they have to step up and fill their roles on this basketball team. Same with Abrines and McDermott. Same with Taj Gibson. Same with every player on the roster.

I hate teams which play soft both mentally and physically and don’t take accountability for their play. It makes me ill. This team needs to step up in a big way in a hurry.

I haven’t played this video in a long time. Maybe I’ll play it for myself. Maybe Billy Donovan should play it for his team. It couldn’t hurt. I’m tired of hearing all these excuses for guys being young. Age should in no way be an excuse for playing like a pussy. Maybe Nick Collison needs to say a few things in the locker room.

I held off writing a recap on OKC’s tough 100-95 meltdown loss against the Spurs on Friday night in Oklahoma City because I wanted to make sure I didn’t overreact one way or another. When a home team blows a 21 point lead it’s an alarming thing, but really when you think about it in this case it wasn’t.

What this game reveals is just basically the truth, absent Russell Westbrook, this team is a very young NBA team which at times struggles mightily to not get in its own way. There’s a reason San Antonio is a 58 win team and OKC is a 43 win team, namely the Spurs have better, older, and smarter players who don’t beat themselves. That’s pretty much it.

As the Spurs were closing this game three mental gaffes stand out to me separate of multiple defensive breakdowns in the fourth quarter. 1 Enes Kanter was in the wrong spot on an in bounds pass and Westbrook had to burn a valuable timeout. 2 Victor Oladipo had his foot on the boundary line when Westbrook found him for a wide open three late in the game. 3 On the game’s biggest play, Doug McDermott took an and one on Kahwi Leonard which basically sealed this loss for Oklahoma City. These are just little things which seasoned, smart NBA players don’t do. These things can’t happen. But then again, usually Russell Westbrook doesn’t get stoned by LaMarcus Aldridge at the rim either. Westbrook can’t always bail these guys out.

Let’s be even more brutally candid, OKC will close out this regular season a combined 2-9 against Golden State, San Antonio, and Houston. Truth hurts, Russell Westbrook can only do so much.

With seven regular season games remaining, OKC is 43-32, and despite what Mark Cuban says–Russell Westbrook is a superstar, he’s just a superstar without a second support player on this roster who shows up every night. You might notice, Golden State is on a current ten game winning streak with Durant still sitting. Tell me what that says about the state of these two respective rosters. Seriously.

Westbrook garnered his 39th triple double on Friday versus the Spurs. His line was 32 points, 15 rebound, and 12 assists. Westbrook did everything he could during the stretch run to distribute the ball to his teammates, but the simple truth is his teammates aren’t good enough on most nights to close the deal. Westbrook has Victor Oladipo, Steven Adams, and Enes Kanter while an injured Kevin Durant has Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. See my point?

But it is what it is and this afternoon in Oklahoma City–Westbrook goes after his 40th triple double of the season against a Charlotte team who’s mascot name is I think the Bobcats or is it the Hornets.

This season has been very clear for the most part, it’s Russell Westbrook’s season and the hope that some of his teammates will grow from the experience and get better in the process.

I thought about going with Billy Donovan’s post game comments, but they were just coach speak. At some point, he has to say, ‘these other guys have to step the fuck up.’ But, of course, he’s probably already done that behind closed doors on multiple occasions. Russell was very calm with his post game comments. Trump should only be so composed. BTW, I’ll get back to Billy Bush’s foreplay coach on Tuesday. Also, after having two telephone rant conversations with U.S. Senator James Lankford’s office, I received a very nice two page letter yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. So there might be some hope in that regard.

James Lankford going after the Russians and our village idiot president. Lankford has a very nice, articulate voice. It doesn’t have that normal Okie twang. I don’t have the Okie twang either. We have that in common–so there’s that. You know how I love this clip from Gorky Park.

As always, in honor of Donald Trump and his supporters. Be sure and sing along.

This is moving at warp speed now with the lawyer for Michael Flynn seeking immunity for his testimony in the Trump-Russia collusion conspiracy. There’s no need to give this person immunity unless he has a story which implicates Donald Trump for colluding with the Russians and perhaps even committing treason. Let him sweat, fuck him. They already have the goods on him for being an illegally unregistered foreign agent, plus, that crazy story of a purported kidnapping. They already have Flynn if they want him. The only reason you would give him immunity is if he can deliver the goods on Donald Trump. Otherwise, why give him immunity.

This is moving now from a Watergate feel more to an Oliver North-Iran Contra feel. Stunning in that this poser of a president is only seventy days into his presidency and this is unraveling in the manner in which it is. It’s one thing to be blatantly corrupt, it’s another to be this overtly stupid.

Karma can be a bitch, eh?

This is pretty good. It pretty much cuts to the chase of what we have so far, that being, overt stupidity.

Nothing remains stagnant in the NBA. It’s a business driven by money, agents, and uber rich owners. In the aftermath of Durant’s departure to Golden State, Oklahoma City was in a word devastated. The city had lost its face of sorts in Kevin Durant. There was talk on the internet and radio sports shows about trading Westbrook for draft picks and rebuilding with another group of young players as they did nine years ago.

But Westbrook opted to stay at least through the 2017-18 season. I have no idea what Russell Westbrook will ultimately decide after next season, but I’m fairly certain about several things, 1 his decision will be based on his family, 2 he’ll take into account the strong relationships he has established with people within the Thunder organization, and 3 he’ll be up front and direct on what he’s going to do. I don’t think there will be any games in the Hamptons.

The thing about Westbrook though is that this is the first time in his basketball life he’s been the spotlight story. The kid from LA who’s high school coach who had to do some talking to get Westbrook into an Atlanta camp, the kid who was only given a scholarship to UCLA when a spot opened for him. This is really the first time in Westbrook’s basketball life where he’s the story…and the thing is I think he kind of likes it here.

Whether Westbrook ultimately stays, we’ll see. But for the time being this is Russell Westbrook’s city and will remain so as long as he wants it that way. He gave this city a chance to breath and get its legs back under it after the tragic death of Aubrey McClendon, the cratering of oil prices, and the cold departure of Kevin Durant.

OKC is a small market. The community basically worships the players in a setting somewhat similar to the Green Bay Packers. Green Bay has in Aaron Rodgers the best quarterback in the NFL, while Oklahoma City has the best quarterback in the NBA in Russell Westbrook. Since the Packers are my favorite NFL team all is pretty good in my sports world. I’m good.

This is excellent if you haven’t seen it. They should both probably win the MVP. Maybe Adam Silver can cut the trophy in two.

With each passing game, Russell Westbrook’s journey continues along the sacred lines of NBA history. I know we live in an age of millennial influence, Donald Trump, and the such, but with each passing Thunder game, Russell Westbrook has saved me from becoming completely jaded in regards to our current state of affairs. That’s one of the wonderful things about sport, it can make us hope and believe things can and will be better beyond the games.

Since July 4th, when Kevin Durant announced on the Players’ Tribune he was taking the easiest possible route to an NBA championship, Russell Westbrook has literally been a savior to not only the Thunder franchise, but this city itself. At a time when it could have been easy to become cynical, Russell Westbrook has done and said all the right things. He has put this city on his back and basically said, “Let’s go. Life goes on.”

For me, as an obscure Thunder blogger, it’s been a journey as well. My father and I attended Game 6 together. As those horrific last few minutes unwound, we looked at each other and knew in our hearts the Thunder season was over. We feared OKC would lose in Game 7 on the road, and they did.

My father’s battle with pancreatic cancer ended on August 23rd and to my eternal dismay, he’s not here with me watching not only Russell Westbrook’s journey as a player, but Westbrook’s evolution as a man. Westbrook is a smart dude. He was an excellent student and qualified for Stanford if I recall correctly. It’s part of what he is, but even more importantly for those of us who have watched him from his rookie season–his growth as a young man has given me hope beyond the lines of a basketball court.

Russell and his wife are expecting their first child in May. It’s going to be a son. Russell Westbrook is going to have a son and I say without reservation this son will turn into a solid man just as Russell has become because of the parenting he received from his loving, supportive parents. So, now I guess I need to talk about this game in Orlando last night.

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OKC won a game in Orlando last night they had no business winning. None. I’m almost certain I wrote that exact sentence on Monday night in Dallas. For the most part, Westbrook’s teammates went invisible into the night again against a bad Orlando team which is currently the No. 14 seed in the East. Good thing for the Magic the Russian oligarch owns the putrid Brooklyn Nets or else the Magic might be the worst team in the East.

The Thunder as a team were awful for most of this game. They trailed by as many as 21 points in the second half. They trailed 97-79 with six minutes left in the game. They trailed by 13 points with three and a half minutes left in regulation. But here’s what happened again, Russell Westbrook just said fuck it and took over the basketball game to the extent that the Orlando fans, like the Brooklyn fans, started MVP chants and basically cheered for Westbrook instead of their own team.

Westbrook scored 19 points in those six minutes of regulation. He hit a tough, contested three pointer with 7.1 seconds left to send the game to overtime. He then went on to score 7 points, grab 4 rebounds, and assist twice in the five minute overtime. In the last ten or so minutes of this basketball game, Russell Westbrook scored 26 points, but more importantly, he won another game for this Thunder team which somehow stands 43-31 with eight games remaining in the regular season. BTW, OKC clinched a playoff berth last night as well.

Westbrook’s line was something we never saw from either Michael or Kobe. His line was 57 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists. The 57 points is the highest point total ever associated with a triple double in the history of the league. It was Westbrook’s 38th triple double of the season, he needs only three more to tie Oscar with eight games remaining. It would be nice if this could happen at home, but looking at the schedule it might very well happen in either Memphis, Phoenix, Denver, or Minnesota. We’ll just have to see.

OKC now stands at 43-13 only a half game behind the Clippers for the No. 5 seed. The Thunder have somehow won four of their last five on the road and are now 31-7 in games in which Westbrook has triple doubled. For those who think this is a stat deal, It’s not. It’s more to the point these young Thunder players are still the Bad News Bears and need Westbrook to do this every night just for the team to be competitive.

Kevin Durant may or may not win his first NBA championship with the Splash Brothers and Draymond Green. I could care less at this point. I’ve moved on and not just as a basketball fan. The reason is simple…Russell Westbrook. I owe Russell Westbrook, big time.

I’d wish Russell Westbrook good luck as father, but I know he doesn’t need it. Here’s there and he’ll be a wonderful father.

OKC hosts the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night.

Russell with courtside post game comments.

This is what he should do and he should do it because he had no mandate whatsoever to be governing from a far right hardline position. What makes all this even more comical is that he’s a guy who probably should either be on his golf courses or in a furniture store doing his furniture store sports fucking thing. He has no governmental experience. None. For crying out loud, I’ve been president of the OKC Youth Ice Hockey Association and VP of my HOA. I have more governmental experience than Trumpula and it’s not like in any way do I feel qualified to be POTUS. None. It’s a tough ass job.

Trump should fire these people: Bannon, Miller, Sessions, Conway, Spicer, Price, Pruitt, and Priebus. Start over. Pretend the inaugural speech never happened and reach out to all Americans and a handful of moderate Dems. Govern all the people in this country, not just the dudes in the White Billionaires Men’s Club. This is isn’t complex because he’s going absolutely nowhere as his presidency is currently constructed. Sure, the 36 % who would have voted for Hitler are still there, but nothing will get done otherwise.

So does Donald Trump really want to govern the entire country or just be the adoptive parent of Jerry Springer fans? BTW, Jerry Springer like Howard Stern didn’t vote for Trumpula. You can analyze this all you want, but I dare say a good deal of these people would have voted for David Duke over Hillary Clinton. Truth hurts.