After blowing a six point lead with 1:51 left in Sunday’s game in Dallas, the mercurial Russell Westbrook regained his senses and led the Thunder to a wire to wire 122-102 blowout of the Dallas Mavs.
If ever two games in two nights highlighted why Russell Westbrook doesn’t have a ring this might be a primer of sorts. It was vintage Wild Thing in the blown game in Dallas, then vintage Russell Westbrook as an iconic generational point guard who should at least have two rings already as we hit Day 1 of 2019. These two games highlight what Westbrook brings to the table at his worst and at his best.
At his best, Westbrook is the best point guard in the NBA. At his worst I’m not sure I’d have him in my top seven points guards in the game today. The gap is that significant, especially when you get to the post season and each game is magnified by bad decisions being made by teams’ point guards. The NBA is no different than the NFL in that you’re not going to win the big trophy if your quarterback habitually makes bad decisions at just the wrong time.
I don’t write this as a fan of the Thunder per se, but more of just a fan of the NBA. As a witness who’s passionately watched the league for around fifty-five years now both in the pre three point era and the current era of basketball.
One thing hasn’t changed during either era, that being your point guard can’t play like an out of control youth level rec player when all the marbles are on the table. That can’t happen. I’m not exactly sure what or how Jerry West phrased his closing argument to Kevin Durant on that fateful phone call to the Hamptons, but I’m guessing I have it fairly close.
Clay Bennett and Sam Presti have put all their chips in the middle of the pot betting at some point Russell Westbrook’s light switch will go on. That he’ll have that flash of genius moment when he realizes he has five seasons or so left where he could become an NBA championship winner.
Watching Westbrook somewhat reminds me of the hockey player Alex Ovechkin. Until last spring, Ovechkin, like Westbrook, was a perennial flameout in post seasons for the Washington Capitals. Great individual stats. Regular season MVP’s. A scoring title or two or three. A perennial all-star. A secured place in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto (another reason I’d like to live there).
Ovechkin’s teams could never get past the opening rounds and if they did they always came up short when it mattered. They always found a way to lose. Always. They were viewed as the league’s premier underachiever. A franchise which had wasted the storied career of Ovechkin.
Same thing last season as they lost their first two home games in the first round to the Columbus Blue Jays. Then something magical happened, Ovechkin changed his game. He pulled back on offense and focused on his defense and on his checking game. He took his immensive set of offensive skills and used them at just the right clutch moments when his team needed them most. He gave up some points for hits, for rubs, for screens, for backchecks, for assists, for all the little things which transform a perennial choker into a flowering world champion. And it worked.
The Washington Capitals shocked the hockey world by winning their first ever world championship. Ovechkin finally had his ring. His city had their moment. It was glorious and the Caps are still riding that crest this season as one of the NHL’s best teams even after the coach left the team after their Stanley Cup moment.
As I watch Westbrook–I know winning matters to him. I know it does. I just can’t figure out why he’s taking this long to come to terms with what it will take from him if he wants to become a champion like Ovechkin.
And again, I don’t think it means all that much if Billy Donovan is the coach or someone else is the coach. It doesn’t matter. This is Westbrook’s deal. This is how he decides if he wants to be grouped with Cousy, Magic, and Isiah Thomas or along with Steve Nash and John Stockton.
When I watch the Thunder now I don’t look at wins nearly as much as I observe what Westbrook does to facilitate this team becoming a legit championship contender with all this payroll.
This is or at least should be Russell Westbrook’s season of awakening.
No more excuses. This isn’t on ownership or Sam Presti. This isn’t on Billy Donovan. This isn’t on Cupcake. This isn’t on Oklahoma City.
This is on Russell Westbrook.