Russel Westbrook in his prime was one of the best basketball players that anyone has ever seen because of his athleticism and his ability to take the ball to the rim over people who were at least 8 inches taller than he was. He is well known for holding the record for the most triple doubles in the regular season with 198 triple doubles in his NBA career. Westbrook is also an amazing player off the court with his charity the Russel Westbrook foundation. He donates 400 pairs of shoes to the LA South Academy for kids who may not be able to afford a new pair of shoes.
Westbrook was the league’s MVP in the 2016-2017 season with averaging 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists a game. These numbers are almost unheard of nowadays because no one can quite match Westbrooks athleticism in his prime. Russel Westbrook, James Harden, and Kevin Durant all played in OKC at the same time. Harden would be the sixth man off the bench because he was still a rookie and ended up leaving OKC in 2012 to get his shot with the Houston Rockets where he really made a name for himself. Durant ended up leaving OKC in 2016 which really played a big part in Westbrook winning the MVP in 2016. He really did not have anyone that was another big name superstar on the team so he had to put OKC on his back and lead them to the playoffs when they would eventually lose to the Golden state warriors the team that Durant went to after what it felt like he stabbed OKC in the back by wanting to go and play for their rivals. One thing that is to admire about Westbrook is when both of his teammates left him he treated the city of OKC like it was a family because of all he did for that city. The joy he brought to the city and the effort he put in trying to win a ring for them.
Westbrook left OKC after 11 seasons with the team after being traded to the Houston Rockets to play with former teammate James Harden. Harden was running the show in Houston now though so Westbrook wasn’t that number one guy like he was in OKC after Durant left. Westbrook was traded to the Washington Wizards in 2020 after only one season with the Rockets. A lot of people have seen a decline in Westbrook’s performance since he has left OKC and a lot of people in the media have put a lot of hate on his name he is known for his famous name “Westbrick” this name means Westbrook is not that good because when you brick in basketball it means you miss a lot of shots. Westbrook went to the Lakers after only a season with Washington and this is where the name originated instead because he did not perform his best with the Lakers because of all the stars that were on that team. Westbrook barely touched the ball because of Lebron and Anthony Davis and Pat Beverly. Westbrook really was not the first option when it came to scoring the ball and that’s what he was best at and all the hate really got to him and it messed with his confidence when in reality the Lakers were just not treating him right so he was not able to perform at his full potential.
A couple reasons that Westbrook is my favorite basketball player is that he is a really good role model. With the way he acts on and off the court he is always just so genuine. He gets a lot of hate because he may not be as good as he used to be but he is still an amazing person and everything that he does. I use his attitude and way he carries himself in my life. He does not care what other people think and he is always out there to prove the haters wrong.
