Harden supporters use the Rockets' triumph against the Thunder as the reason why James Harden should win MVP. I'm just putting this out there too: I find it hard to respect James Harden when he pulls shit like this.

Or this:

Or this:

But most egregiously, this:

James Harden got the foul call on each of those plays. In the series against the Thunder, he got fouled nine times shooting the three, most of them like the first three gifs (which took surprisingly long to make). It was one thing to see Harden flop on his way to the rim, but another when he is consistently awarded three free-throws for hooking the arm of a defender and sneakily initiating contact to get the call. Without a doubt, it's sneaky and smart: he's so adept at drawing the three point foul at this point that he can easily fool referees, but that doesn't mean NBA fans have to like it. But during the season, Harden drew more three point fouls than any other team in the NBA. By 25. How does that data make any sense?

Sorry about the rant, but this isn't an article about Harden's flopping. It's about why I respect Russell Westbrook the most of any NBA player, especially after that hard fought but ill-fated series against the Rockets.

Let's get this out of the way: Westbrook is a flawed player. He "stat-pads" and chases triple-doubles at times. His fourth quarter execution during the series against the Rockets faltered, where he shot 14-49 from the field. He even accidentally blocked a teammate's shot by playing too hard. He's turnover prone, questionably selfish with his high usage rate, and is, at times, a very poor decision maker and has bad shot selection. Westbrook critics don't deny his extraordinary talent, but they do doubt his ability to make his teammates better, like how poorly they play when he's on the bench has anything to do with his playstyle. He's inefficient, even though he stayed as efficient as he was last season while his usage rate skyrocketed. They say he will never win because his selfishness drives away other stars, like Kevin Durant. They say he doesn't know how to slow down, and that he only has one mode: overdrive, and that will shorten his career.

But, as Colin Cowherd argues, Russell Westbrook supporters are almost like the Donald Trump supporters of the NBA. It's an outrageous comparison, but every time I hear criticism of Russ, it only reinforces and strengthens my admiration of him. Every time the Thunder lose a game or he takes a bad shot, I find some excuse for him. Even when he didn't let Steven Adams answer the "why are the Thunder so bad when Russ isn't playing" question, I saw it as standing up for his team and telling his teammates he had their backs. I even neglected studying as much for some final exams as I needed to read articles and watch highlights of Russ, something I have no regret doing. Every time I hear or watch Russ, I feel very strong emotions to either defend or praise his actions. Nothing anything anyone says, not any stat anyone puts in front of me can change that.

But it is Westbrook's sheer determination and force of will that draws me to like him as a player. At the end of Game 5, with less than thirty seconds left and the outcome of the game clearly a Rockets victory, Russell Westbrook stole the ball on an inbound and scored a layup with an and-one to bring the score to 97-101. Then came the pivotal one-liner of the series from TNT's Kevin Harlan:

"Russell Westbrook will not die!"

Yes, the Thunder lost. Some of his execution still contributed to their fourth quarter breakdowns, and it was all for naught. The Thunder went into the fourth quarter of Game 5 with a five point lead, and within two minutes and 30 seconds, that shifted to a five point deficit with Westbrook sitting. It's not my goal to inundate you with the pro-Westbrook statistics, since you probably know them anyway:

The Thunder were outscored 27-9 in the six minutes he was on the bench in Game 5.

Westbrook averaged an astounding 37.4 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 10.8 assists during the series.

But this isn't about the stats, even though Russell Westbrook finished the season averaging a triple double. Hindsight is an omniscient tool, but I'll use it anyways and say that most of us knew the Thunder weren't going to win against the Rockets. This is about Russell Westbrook the person, player, and model of resilience you seldom find in any other player in the NBA. I haven't respected a player this much since Allen Iverson, and in many ways, the path Westbrook takes is a road much like Iverson's.

When Kevin Durant left in the offseason, my friends and I were in disbelief - not that he left, but that he went to the team that put them out. It was a commonly known fact for us then that the Warriors would win the Championship. Notwithstanding the superhuman transcendence of LeBron James (if the Cavs happen to shore up their defense) or the Spurs, the Warriors have a surefire path at being the 2017 NBA Champions with arguably four NBA superstars on this team. So we watched this season for everything else. Sure, it was nice to see the Warriors falter now and then, because you wouldn't expect a team with KD, Steph, Draymond and Klay to do anything else.

But also an afterthought was the Oklahoma City Thunder. With the departure of Kevin Durant, a former MVP, and the trade of Serge Ibaka, the Thunder looked like a meek shadow of what they'd been. Not only that: Westbrook was also a free agent, but he signed an extension with the Thunder last August into the 2018-2019 season.

But the rest of the Thunder looked like a shell of itself: half of its team from the past year was gone. Only Kanter and Oladipo looked like viable offensive options outside of Westbrook, with Steven Adams and Andre Roberson looking like the team's essential defensive stoppers. For a few, the question wasn't "will the Thunder compete for a title?" It was "will the Thunder make the playoffs?" Most expected them to be either a 5-8 seed in the West. But one clear: the Thunder were built around Durant and Westbrook. Now, it was only Westbrook. And the Thunder weren't going to be contenders. It was a lost season.

That we had conversations the last couple of weeks about whether the Thunder could beat the Rockets is absurd. It was David vs. Goliath, yet we all tuned in and believed in Westbrook against the odds. That we tuned in to see this maniac give it everything with a superhuman intensity made this season fun.

"He turned the season into an action movie full of explosions, drama, emotions, fights, rivalries, subliminal messages, dancing, self-aware commercials, and so much more. He made a No. 6 seed a must-see team." -Zito Madu

Westbrook didn't need to work as hard as he did. Some argue that his trying too hard is hurting his game, or hurting his team, but I disagree - it's what has made him great. He is as polarizing a player as any, likely the most since LeBron or Allen Iverson, but people say none of it mattered. Because they didn't win. But we knew they weren't going to win a championship with just Westbrook and this group. The Lakers in 2001 were unstoppable - everyone knew they would win. But people memorialize and remember the transcendent show that Iverson and the Sixers put on regardless.

To that degree, does it matter what any other team besides the Warriors do? Because they most likely won't win? Does that mean Robert Horry is better than LeBron, Kobe, and Jordan because he has more rings?

Numerous times throughout the season, Westbrook could tapped out and not tried as hard. But no - like Allen Iverson, he did not die. He played not every game, but every minute like he was fighting for his life. He brought a reckless intensity to the game where we thought he couldn't go any farther. It wasn't the fact that he averaged a triple double; no, it was the way he did it, the way he fought for his team, as he showcased a level of effort and resilience that I have never seen in anyone but my mom. He has a rage and way of playing that isn't always pretty, isn't always efficient, but is always valiant, always remarkable. Something we'll never "get" and something that will never fit into our mental boxes.

This was a transition year for the Thunder. They could have fallen apart. We knew it was impossible to replace KD with the spare parts of last year's Thunder. Westbrook improved and gave it his all, and came admirably close.

Russell Westbrook made me care more about the game than triple doubles, than the number of wins, than any number, any award. Even if he doesn't win MVP, and even though the Thunder were put out in the first round, no one can look back on this season, that one playoff series and say that season wasn't incredible, that we didn't witness a once-in-a-lifetime show, one that might be humanly unsustainable. Russ showed us it was more about the journey and doing your absolute best for the cards handed to you, and for a moment, let's stop and appreciate that.