In all my years as a basketball fan, I have never seen as much criticism for a player as productive and relentless as Westbrook since probably ever..
I remember back when I was a Westbrook-basher like most NBA fans, when Westbrook was turning into an all-star in 2011. Sure, he played almost identical to Derrick Rose, who would go on to win MVP that year, but he seemed to just make things harder than they had to be. He would routinely get picked apart on defense by the crafty Tony Parker, and seemed to shoot too much for a teammate of a scoring champ. While we accepted Rose going 7-21, because the Bulls offense cannot score in the playoffs no matter the personnel, we chided Westbrook for committing such a sin as taking more shots than Durant, no matter the context.
Yes, he can fall victim to ill-advised shots and play out-of-control, hyper-aggressive defense at times, but I always felt this was also due, in-part, to the supporting cast around him and coaching - and you do not have to look further than the 2012 NBA Finals for a better example.
While Durant played as if he did not want to be there, and Kendrick Perkins kept getting called in to play, Westbrook responded by pouring in 43 points in a should-be-legendary finals performance that nobody cares about because the Thunder lost and Westbrook cannot be given too much praise.
You'd think by 2016 we would stop being so narrow-minded by putting players on a pedestal based on their position, with players like Lebron and Harden basically being the point guards for their teams, but no, Westbrook needs to be more “pure.” Let’s ignore the fact the best point guard to win an NBA title since 1991 was either 2004 Chauncey Billups or 2007 Tony Parker. While both were solid, effective floor-generals, neither have the talent, nor the responsibilities, that Westbrook has. John Stockton, Chris Paul and Steve Nash all played point guard “the right way,” but they have no hardware to show for it.
Almost any logical hoops fans would gladly accept a routine stat line like his every game on their team, but they seem to take his stats with a grain of salt.
With Kevin Durant gone, Westbrook now has free reins to freelance, which makes for great basketball. Sure, he does not have consistent shooters or scorers around him, but Westbrook will always give 110% on offense.
