Russell Westbrook Should Not Win MVP

Russell Westbrook posted another triple-double on Friday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves. No other player in the league has more than three triple-doubles on the entire season. Westbrook has eight overall and his stretch of six in eight games was historically good. His recent play since Kevin Durant’s latest injury has elevated him into the MVP race alongside James Harden, Steph Curry, and LeBron James. The Oklahoma City point guard is averaging more points than Harden, more assists than Curry, and more rebounds than James.

But Westbrook should not win the MVP award.

First off, if the Thunder misses the playoffs, the Westbrook argument immediately dies. No player should win the MVP award if their team doesn’t make the playoffs. However, even if Oklahoma City makes the playoffs, Westbrook’s MVP case is hurt due to the simple fact that the team is 14-10 with Westbrook playing while Durant sits (note: I did not include the loss to the Los Angeles Clippers in game two of the season as Westbrook only played nine minutes). That’s a winning percentage of 58%, which would be good enough for 8th seed in the west. They’d be in a more comfortable position than they are right now, but they’d still be the 8th seed.

Flashback to last year when Durant played without Westbrook. The Thunder were 23-11 for a winning percentage of 68%.

Against current playoff teams, OKC is 4-6 with Westbrook and no Durant. Three of those four wins came against Eastern Conference playoff teams. During Westbrook’s  triple-double run, the Thunder went 4-2 with two wins over a current playoff team, both in the east.

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Westbrook is putting up comparable, if not better, numbers than Durant did last season. But wins and losses matter. Westbrook will be remembered more for his losses than his wins this year.

He’ll be remembered for that stretch in January where they lost three out of five to New Orleans, Portland, and Dallas by a combined 11 points. Against the Pelicans, Westbrook had three opportunities to tie or win the game and missed all three. Against the Blazers, OKC led by six with 44 seconds remaining. The Blazers cut the lead to two with five seconds left when Westbrook missed a free throw to give the Blazers a chance to tie it. Damian Lillard did just that, which sent the game into overtime. Portland would go on to win it, following a missed Westbrook buzzer-beater. In a one-point game against the Mavericks, following a Westbrook miss on the offensive end, he fell asleep on defense and allowed Rajon Rondo to score to make it a three-point game. Westbrook once against missed on offense then fouled Dirk Nowitzki on defense. Down one with the ball quickly turned into down five with a minute remaining.

He’ll be remembered for that inexcusable loss to the Knicks in February. Even though he scored 40 points, they still lost to the Knicks.

He’ll be remembered for this current 3-4 stretch that has put the team back on the outside looking in. He took way too many 3-pointers against Phoenix and missed the game-tying layup in overtime. He missed the potential game-winning layup against Portland and then missed a free throw that would’ve tied the game just seconds later. Then there was that terrible possession against the Bulls where he failed to hit an open Serge Ibaka before air-balling a contested jumper. Those three losses were capped off by a drubbing at the hands of Chris Paul and the Clippers.

He’ll be remembered for losing his cool against the Dallas Mavericks and costing his team. With OKC leading 75-63 with eight minutes to go in the third, Westbrook was whistled for a flagrant foul. By the end of the third the score was tied at 92. Then, in the fourth quarter of a close game, Westbrook fouled out by picking up a charge and then fouling Rondo on the ensuing inbounds play. This came after he missed a jumper that would’ve tied the game.

He was great in victories over the San Antonio Spurs on Christmas Day, the New Orleans Pelicans in January, and the Bulls on Sunday. Those three victories shouldn’t be discounted, but the Pelicans win was erased a couple of nights later, thanks to Anthony Davis and they still split the March series with the Bulls.

We look at the numbers and Westbrook’s personality and just assume that he’s a bully on the court and can do whatever he wants. But that’s only the case against bad teams. When the Thunder run into a good team, Westbrook seems to do more harm than good, especially late in close games.

As much as I like Westbrook, there’s a reason why OKC goes to Durant in the final moments. Despite last year’s headline, he’s much more reliable. Westbrook wants to be “the guy.” It’s in his DNA. He’s an alpha dog and a fantastic player. He’s proven that he can be very successful in leading a team without the real MVP.

Westbrook is a top-five player in the league, but he’s not the MVP. That honor should go to Curry.