Thunderous thoughts: Russell Westbrook is the problem in OKC
Welcome to Thunderous Thoughts. Your weekly look at the OKC Thunder where, sometimes, you have to try and impress television executives so they hand you millions.
It’s amazing that Russell Westbrook won the MVP last season. Here’s a guy that clearly stat-padded and held back his teammates for 82-games. Victor Oladipo was the best player on the team and Westbrook turned him into a spot-up shooter. Look what Oladipo is doing in Indiana.
Look what he did to Oklahoma City in crunch time on Wednesday night. Against Paul George3 I might add. This is a guy coming into his own without the shackles of Westbrook and Billy Donovan’s offense. And look where Russell Westbrook is at without Oladipo.
And don’t get me started on Domantas Sabonis. They gave away his rookie season for a MVP trophy. I hope it was worth it.
You don’t think Russell Westbrook holds everybody back? Kevin Durant and James Harden say, “Hello.” One just proved he’s the best player in the world by going toe-to-toe with LeBron James and walking away with nothing more than a scratch on his arm. The other is the best player on the planet right now.
How is Steven Adams working out for Oklahoma City? He was supposed to be “the next big thing” at center. He’s nothing more than a passenger on the Westbrook train. Put Steven Adams with Gregg Popovich and he’d be the next David Robinson. Admiral Adams. That’s not a trap, folks. That’s facts.
Paul George and Carmelo Anthony. Why are we surprised that they are having the worst years of their career alongside Westbrook? This is a guy who neutered the best scorer of our generation. George and Anthony had to give their balls to Westbrook the moment they landed in Oklahoma City. I’m talking about basketballs, people. There’s only one. And it belongs to Russell Westbrook.
You can’t blame coaching. Billy Donovan is a fantastic coach. He’s succeed at every level. He groomed great NBA players. There’s just no getting through to a man who literally danced and said, “Now I do what I want” weeks after Kevin left.
Part of this is Sam Presti’s fault. He enabled his star. He made the team all about Westbrook. Presti traded away James Harden after making him a disrespectful contract offer. He let Kevin Durant walk away for nothing. Presti gave up Oladipo, Sabonis, Enes Kanter, and Doug McDermott for one year of Paul George and a past his prime Carmelo Anthony.
If you had to design a team with two stars, the last two stars you would pick to play together would be Westbrook and Anthony. Two low-efficient scorers who can’t score.
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George is gone in July. He might be mentally gone in January. You think he’s happy playing with Westbrook? Lance Stephenson gave him less headaches. He’s watching Oladipo thrive the same way he did before he was shackled to Westbrook.
This is a poorly constructed roster, friends. Because it’s a roster built around Russell Westbrook. It might be fun in NBA 2K. You might be winning multiple titles with Westbrook in the land of video games. Newsflash: Life isn’t a video game.
These aren’t the LeBron-Wade-Bosh Miami Heat. These are the Kobe-Nash-Howard Los Angeles Lakers. This is what happens when you give up on young talent and try to acquire stars instead of building a stable franchise. You build a stable franchise first. Then, the stars come to you. That’s how you remain light years ahead.
The Thunder have a faulty hyperdrive. And it’s name is Russell Westbrook.
Disclaimer: This is satire. The heading of this article was meant to indicate I was using overt exaggerations to make a point. While I’m upset with Russell Westbrook’s performance, it is not truly reflective of my love for the Thunder, nor is it indicative of Thunderous Intentions or the other writer’s opinions on the site. I blame the new Eminem album.