Former Thunder coach Scott Brooks: Russell Westbrook deserves MVP
An NBA prediction as the end of the regular season nears: Russell Westbrook will become the first and only other player since Oscar Robertson 55 years ago to average a triple double for an entire season, and he won’t win the NBA’s MVP award.
Just think about that for a minute.
It might not turn out to be true, of course, as the Oklahoma City Thunder star could win out against the Houston Rockets’ James Harden, the San Antonio Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard and the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James. But with Westbrook’s Thunder (38-29) currently sixth in the Western Conference, there is a different sort of history standing between him and the award: since 1976, when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won the award despite his Los Angeles Lakers finishing sixth in the Western Conference while missing the playoffs, every MVP has come from a team that finished with at least the fourth-best record in its respective conference. Robertson knows this harsh reality as well as anyone, as he was third in the MVP voting behind Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain during that celebrated 1961-62 campaign in which he averaged a triple-double for a Cincinnati Royals team that finished just 43-37.
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Yet if ever there was a time to buck that trend, for the media voters to honor a player in Westbrook who is doing something that so many believed would never be done again while lifting his team to unexpected heights after Kevin Durant left for the Golden State Warriors, this might be it, right? That’s how Washington Wizards coach Scott Brooks sees it.
As unique and informed perspectives go, Brooks – who coached Harden and Westbrook during his eight seasons with the Thunder and has a fringe MVP candidate of his own in the Wizards’ John Wall – may have the best. And while he struggled to pick one player during a chat with USA TODAY Sports late last week, he said the history that Westbrook is making (league-leading 31.9 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 10.1 assists per game, which is third) combined with the Thunder’s success puts him above the rest.
“You have to weigh (the overall record) a little bit into it, but it’s not like (the Thunder aren't) making the playoffs, like they’re not having a successful season,” Brooks said. “I mean they’ve got a lot of talent, and they’re going to win, probably, 50-something games (they’re on pace to win 46). And Russell is a big part of that. Fortunately for me, I got to see behind the scenes who Russell is, and if he doesn’t win it, he definitely has an MVP character, and like I said, it’s hard to argue a triple-double. That doesn’t happen often. (Averaging a triple-double), to me that qualifies to be an MVP. It’s hard to say no.
“What he’s doing, I’m in awe, like a lot of players and coaches and fans. He’s the only guy I’ve been around that can play back to back in the same game, and still have numbers in that same game, and energy in the tank. He has a motor like – I mean he’s phenomenal.”
Make no mistake, however, this is an extremely tight and incredibly impressive race.
Not only are Harden’s Rockets (46-21, third in the West) significantly better than the Thunder, but his production – 29.1 points (third), 11.2 assists (first), and 7.9 rebounds per game – is historic in its own right. And Robertson, yet again, is the gold standard to which he should be compared: according to BasketballReference.com, only Robertson has hit those points, assists and rebound marks for an entire season (both in the 1961-62 season and in the 1964-65 campaign as well).
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Meanwhile, James’ Cavs (44-22) are atop the Eastern Conference while he’s averaging 26.1 points, a career-high 8.9 assists and 8.3 rebounds – numbers that, prior to this season, had only been reached by Robertson (five times) and Michael Jordan (once). Yet no one has as unique a candidacy as Leonard, whose two-way play is simply unmatched. Not only is the back-to-back winner of the Defensive Player of the Year award routinely shutting down the league’s top scorers for the NBA’s top rated defense, but he’s averaging 26.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game.
“What’s crazy is all the talk that he’s just coming on now,” Brooks said of Leonard. “He’s been there. He was there in November. The guy is one of the best players in the league, and if you gave him it you can’t really argue too much.
“You can put him on ones, twos, threes, and fours and fives. He has the heart of a champion. He defends and he cares, and he does it every night. And he doesn’t just do it in the last three minutes of a game and he doesn’t just do it when he feels like it. He knows that it’s important for him to do it every night, and that’s who he is. You could argue him for MVP. I’m glad I don’t get to vote.”
The votes aren’t coming in just yet, though, and there are still a few more MVP faceoffs yet to come before the final tally.
· March 26: Houston hosts Oklahoma City.
· March 27: San Antonio hosts Cleveland.
· March 31: Oklahoma City hosts San Antonio.
From Westbrook on down, there’s more history in the making to come.
Follow USA TODAY Sports' Sam Amick on Twitter @Sam_Amick.