It’s kind of crazy to think just how polarizing of a player Russell Westbrook has become over the last decade or so. He has reached amazing heights in the NBA, winning a somewhat controversial MVP Award and rewriting the history books when it comes to recording triple-doubles.
At the same time, his play style and shortcomings have rubbed a lot of people the wrong way over the years. There has been a belief that his game isn’t conducive to winning, and that as he ages, he hasn’t been able to adapt his game to fit in on good teams as more of a role player.
Even while putting up stats on his last few teams, Westbrook has earned many “haters” and he has been unceremoniously dumped by the Lakers and Clippers, after those teams determined he couldn’t help them reach their goal of winning a title, a feat that Russ has never been able to achieve despite all of his other accomplishments.
When the Nuggets signed Russ last offseason to a veteran minimum contract, the move was met with much skepticism, and most of the national media seemed to think this marriage was destined for disaster and would end up crashing and burning, much like his last few stops.
But Denver’s roster has badly needed what Russ has brought to the table. He has meshed magically with Nikola Jokic, steadied the team’s rotations at many times, and brought an edge, energy, intensity, and veteran presence that was severely lacking.
Even as things were going better than expected in the regular season, the concern all along has been the playoffs. We’ve seen opponents play Westbrook off the floor, pick at his warts, and force him to do more than his team would like. Nuggets fans have feared this all season, but at the end of the day, Denver has no other options, and we knew that for better or worse, the Nuggets would live and die with Russ in these playoffs.
Westbrook helps lift Nuggets to Game 5 victory
Westbrook played a big role in the team’s Game 1 win, but was injured in Game 3, then missed Game 4. He rushed back to make it onto the court for Game 5, but fans and critics were waiting for the other shoe to drop.
But despite the concern, Russ came through in a big way in his return and helped propel the Nuggets to a massive 131-115 win. Westbrook came off the bench for a huge 25 minutes and contributed 21 points on 8/15 shooting and 3/6 on three-pointers.
16 of those points came in the first half when the game was still hanging in the balance. Jokic had a relatively quiet scoring night, and the team needed others to pick up the slack. Jamal Murray exploded to lead the team, but Westbrook was right there along with him, providing a giant spark for the Nuggets and helping lead them to a win in their biggest game of the season.
Doubters are silent on Westbrook front after his success
And yet, as much as Westbrook has been a critical piece for the Nuggets and has been carrying the load for them, his critics haven’t exactly been eating crow and giving him the praise he deserves.
It’s as if everyone is still just waiting for him to fail and to pile on and take a victory lap, but instead, when he does come through, it’s crickets, and a lot of people chalk it up to a lucky fluke, and assume he will just as quickly shoot the Nuggets out of the next game.
But that has not been the case at all so far, and much of the criticism and media reception, and narratives seem extremely unfair. For Russ and the Nuggets, none of those perceptions matter. The reality is, they wouldn’t be where they are without him, and with every performance, he is proving the doubters wrong and helping the Nuggets win playoff games.