“Why Not?” – Russell Westbrook’s case for MVP

Mar 16, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook (0) during their game against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. The Thunder beat the Raptors 123-102. Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

Russell Westbrook is having a once-in-a-lifetime season and is close to beating the record for the most triple-doubles in a single season. However, as gaudy as his box score numbers are, they don’t begin to describe how valuable he is to the Thunder.

Obviously one thing that sets Russell Westbrook apart from other MVP candidates is his ability to get triple-doubles on any given night. He’s bound to average a triple-double this season as well, making him the second NBA player to ever do it.

Oscar Robertson, the first one to do it, did it while playing over 44 minutes per game in a much higher paced era of basketball. In comparison, Russ plays 34.7 minutes a game in a slower paced era. It’s why what Westbrook is doing this season is so impressive.

With that being said, here’s why he should win MVP.

It’s not all about wins

I know, I know.

MVP voters take wins into account. For the past 30 years or so, the winner of the MVP award was always part of a top-3 seed.

By the way, only once in said timespan has a player from a 3 seed won the award. That was back in the ’87-88 season, when Michael Jordan won the award. Furthermore, the last player to win the MVP award while being on a team that didn’t win 50 or more games is Moses Malone in 1982.

It’s an unwritten rule in MVP voting procedures. Wins matter. Seeding matters, too.

Bear in mind that the Russell Westbrook-led Oklahoma City Thunder still have a realistic chance at getting the fourth seed and breaking the 50-win mark with eight games to go. However, they might not get either one.

And guess what?

It shouldn’t matter. The numbers he puts up are ones that we probably will never see again in our lifetimes. To not give him the MVP award because of “wins” wouldn’t be right.

He is the MOST VALUABLE PLAYER in the NBA

Key words being most valuable.

Russell Westbrook is the player that is most valuable to his team. Period.

While we can all agree that the Houston Rockets would be worse without their MVP candidate James Harden, the Rockets have a better-built roster than the Thunder does. They may not make the playoffs without Harden, but they would still continue to win at a respectable rate.

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As for the Thunder? Not so much. The Thunder are 13.5 points/100 possessions worse when Westbrook is off the court.

In contrast, the Rockets only are 2.3 points/100 possessions worse when Harden is off the court as opposed to when he’s on the court. This should tell you that the Thunder need Russell Westbrook more than the Rockets need James Harden in order to play well.

Westbrook is better overall statistically, as well. Here are two tables comparing their per game stats as well as their advanced ones:

In addition to that, many will point out how Harden creates more points per game than Russ does, as Harden creates 56.7 PPG to Westbrook’s 55.7.

However, Houston scores 115.7 PPG. Therefore, Harden has a hand in 49% of Houston’s scoring output. In comparison, OKC scores 107.1 PPG. As a result, this means that Russell Westbrook is directly involved in 52% of the Thunder’s scoring.

This means that Russell Westbrook does more for the Thunder’s offense than Harden does for the Rockets’ offense. Bear in mind that Westbrook does this while playing fewer minutes a game.

I tell you what, Take Westbrook off OKC and they’d be a 30 win team at best.

There are quite a few talented players on the roster, but they are mismatched in a lot of ways. Many of OKC’s players, like André Roberson and Enes Kanter, happen to be one-dimensional. This creates a lack of balance in the team.

To add to that, the roster is inexperienced and many of the players are new to the team. What inexperience leads to is many errors on both ends, which in turn affects the team’s ability to win.

Also, having new players means effort has to be put in order to integrate them into the system and the team. If that doesn’t work, then the team collapses and starts losing often.

It’s hard for a team to adapt to a wholesale roster change like the one the Thunder has underwent ever since last year’s offseason. Teams with a roster makeup similar to that of the Thunder don’t usually succeed. Russ is making it work though.

What Westbrook is doing this season is bringing all those talents together to form a solid playoff team. He’s the bedrock foundation of the building; he’s what makes this team a cohesive unit. When times get tough, he’s always there.

One-man wrecking crew in crunch time

It is also worth noting that he is one of the clutchest NBA players this season, as we’ve seen time and time again. He’s singlehandedly led comebacks from double-digits deficits late in the game and has made plenty of big shots as well.

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The most recent example of his clutch play was on Wednesday in Orlando, where he scored 19 points in the fourth quarter to help the Thunder come back from a 21-point deficit. He even hit an off-balance contested three with seven seconds left to force the game into overtime.

And the game before that? He personally scored 10 points in the last three and a half minutes to lead a 12-0 Thunder run against Dallas.

pic.twitter.com/vKHMZScAXP
— idk (@harrisonmc15) February 4, 2017

Russell Westbrook is a monster in clutch time.

He leads the NBA in scoring in crunch time with 6.1 PPG (37 games played). Westbrook also is 8th in field goal percentage amongst players who average at least 2 FGA per game in clutch time, shooting at a 43.6% clip.

Counterarguments to the criticism Russell Westbrook receives

Contrary to popular belief, he is NOT a statpadder. Statpadding is an action that improves a player’s personal statistics while being of little benefit to the team.

The thing is, Westbrook’s triple-doubles help the team win. A LOT.

The Thunder are 31-7 on the season when Westbrook gets a trip-dub, and 12-24 when he doesn’t.

The uncontested rebound narrative, while valid, fails to factor in the fact that this is a key part of Oklahoma City’s offensive scheme. By having him grab those boards, this allows the Thunder to get on the run in a fastbreak.

Guess what? It works. It’s no wonder why OKC ranks third in fastbreak points per game (17.1)

As for the inefficiency narrative, it is often ignored how Russ has the highest usage rate in NBA history. With an increase in usage rate tends to come a decrease in efficiency.

Even then, when Westbrook’s TS% is compared to that of player seasons where a player both has started 70 games and has a 35 USG%, Westbrook is in the middle of the pack. His true shooting percentage (55.2%) is league-average as well. He’s not the most efficient, but he’s not inefficient by any means either.

His advanced stats are at all-time levels

Russell Westbrook lead the NBA in VORP, BPM, OBPM, PER, and AST% this season.

But that’s not all, as they’re all top-20 marks in NBA history for a player in a singular season:

PER: 30.6 (15th all-time)

VORP: 11.1 (4th all-time)

OBPM: 10.6 (2nd all-time)

BPM: 15.1 (1st all-time)

AST%: 56.9 (3rd all-time)

He also leads the NBA in estimated wins added (EWA), with 25.2.

Final comments

All factors considered, there is no way to say that the 6’3 cyborg by the name of Russell Westbrook doesn’t deserve the MVP. This is an all-time season.

There has never been something like this, and there probably never will be.

I conclude by asking the MVP voters who want to vote for James Harden this: In 10 years time, will you still be able to justify that pick to yourself?