I have been a die-hard Seattle Supersonic/Oklahoma City Thunder fan since I was an adolescent. As a kid I always wanted to ply like Gary “the Glove Payton.” If I could be any player in the world it would have been him. I remember my eyes glued to the television and computer screens watching and analyzing the tenacity that Gary played with and would try to model my game after it. Little did I know that a young kid from Hawthorne, California would become my next favorite player and play for my favorite team. The moment I heard Russell Westbrook had been selected fourth overall during the 2008 NBA Draft, I knew he was going to be special. His hunger and competitiveness rivals that of Michael Jordan and Kobe and he is just outright relentless on the court.
I happened to play for Russell Westbrook’s high school coach in high school at St. Bernard back in 2011 and 2012 and I remember the moment Russ walked into our locker room at halftime during one of our games. I was in awe. “Enjoy every moment you guys have playing with one another. These are truly some of the best times of your life. Enjoy the moment.” Russell’s words echoed in the back of my mind for years following that encounter.
Fast forward to the 2016-2017 NBA season and he was right to enjoy every moment. As I gear up for graduation, Russell is making history and redefining what it means to be a point guard. Russell is now one triple double away from passing Oscar “The Big O” Robertson for the most in a season. He will average a triple double this season and this will be the first time that has been done since Oscar Robertson accomplished this over 50 years ago during the 1961-1962 NBA season.
According to an article by ESPN, “His season has been full of history, with him running up two streaks of seven consecutive triple-doubles, second only to Wilt Chamberlain's streak of nine. Westbrook sits fourth all time in career triple-doubles at 78, tied with Chamberlain. He has had seven 40-point triple-doubles and two 50-point triple-doubles.” Additionally, he is leading the league in scoring and has his team (second youngest team) poised to have the fifth or sixth seed in the highly competitive Western Conference of the NBA.
I love James Harden because he is a previous OKC player and LA native but I can’t give him the MVP nod over Russell. James himself has had an amazing year statistically but Russell has simply done more with less. James has much more talent around him and four top 20 3 point shooters around him. Russ has some great potential talent but the players are too young to max out on their talent at this point in their young careers.
Russell simply makes his team better. According to statistics provided by ESPN’s Russell Westbrook triple double tracker, the Thunder win 78% of games when he has a triple double and win 35% of games when he doesn’t record one. Also according to a voting chart provided by ESPN they asked fans who will win MVP and who should win MVP. There was a tie for who will win at 50% to each respective player. The interesting point comes where 49% voted that Russell should win MVP and James received 33% of voting withe the rest dispersed to several other players.
Russell has to do so much more than James to put his team in a winning position and I believe that is the reason that Russell deserves the MVP slightly more than James. However, if this was the first year ever the MVP award was shared among two players I would not be disappointed as a fan of both. Russell is my MVP though and I hope his efforts this year are justly recognized. We won’t see a season like this for years to come and I’m sure Russ is enjoying the moment.
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