On March 6, the Clippers lost 51 points in the third quarter against the Grizzlies, trailing by 16 points at most, but staged a Jedi counterattack in the final quarter and completed a big reversal. This was also the first game Russell Westbrook won after joining the Clippers, who had previously suffered an embarrassing 5-game losing streak.
In this game, although he only contributed 9 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists, he made a wonderful 2+1 in the final quarter, which not only expanded the hard-earned lead, but also greatly boosted the team's morale. After scoring this goal, Westbrook roared to the sky, and even drooled when he roared passionately in celebration. It is hard to imagine that Westbrook, the former MVP superstar, has been unable to win since joining the Clippers. This 2+1 finally allowed him to vent his fierce depression.
In recent years, many fans have accused Westbrook of having a limited positive impact on the team. However, they may have forgotten that just six years ago, Westbrook was still the omnipotent triple-double monster. So, how strong was Westbrook back then? Why did he go from winning to losing? Today, let's take a look at Westbrook's basketball life.
Westbrook was born in California in November 1988. Although he devoted a lot of energy to basketball since he was a child and played very tough, he was thin and small compared to other children of the same age, and he really didn't look like a superstar. Although he scored 25.1 points and 8.7 rebounds per game in his senior year, he still failed to enter the top 100 of the 2006 American high school student rankings selected by experts. At that time, Greg Oden, who later gave people infinite regrets, topped the list, and Kevin Durant ranked second. It is worth mentioning that there was a thin guard in the high school class that year, who was ranked even lower than Westbrook. He was Steven Curry. The gears of fate had already turned quietly, and no one knew that Westbrook, Curry and KD would be entangled with each other as if it was fate in the future. Since people looked down on Westbrook, he could only work harder. He began to add gauze to his calves, practice push-ups crazily, and grab and do pull-ups once he saw an object similar to a horizontal bar. His unremitting efforts paid off, and many schools including UCLA, Arizona, and Creighton University extended olive branches to Westbrook. Westbrook finally chose UCLA, but he did not get much playing time during his freshman year. Because the team already had Darren Carlson, Westbrook could only accept the fate of being a substitute. In the field of basketball, the coach often positioned him as an excellent defensive player, which also won him the title of Pacific Rock Conference Defensive Player of the Year in his sophomore year. However, this is not the game rhythm he is best at. Fortunately, during his sophomore year, due to Carlson's injury, he got the main position and began to show amazing offensive ability. His fast breaks and dunks were like a tidal wave, which made his average points per game soar from 3.4 points to 12.7 points.
In the NCAA semifinals, UCLA played against Memphis University. Future No. 1 pick Derek Rose scored 25 points, and Westbrook responded with 22 points. Although UCLA lost in the end, this game put Westbrook in the sights of the Supersonics. It is rumored that in the 2008 draft, the Sonics management, who had the fourth pick, hesitated between Brooke Lopez of Stanford University, Eric Gordon of Indiana University, and Jerry Bayless of Arizona University. However, Troy Weaver, then the team's deputy general manager, insisted on recommending Westbrook to general manager Sam Presti, who personally went to Los Angeles to inspect Westbrook. Half an hour later, Presti found Westbrook's agent and said that he was the one they wanted to choose. Therefore, Westbrook was selected by the Supersonics with the fourth pick in the first round. A few months later, the team moved to Oklahoma City and changed its name to the Thunder, and Westbrook's career began.
During his time with the Thunder, especially before his serious injury, Westbrook was known as one of the most physically fit and athletic point guards in NBA history. His playing style was already evident during his rookie period: although he was a point guard, he was not mainly a passer, but was good at linear breakthroughs. His terrifying lateral speed and amazing explosive power made opponents daunted, and he could cause a lot of damage even in the face of high-intensity defense. At that time, he was able to fly and move forward. At the same time, he also had obvious shortcomings: he had no three-point shooting range, sometimes played emotionally on the court, had problems with defensive attention, was prone to mistakes when defending without the ball, and liked to gamble and steal. At that time, Westbrook's strengths and weaknesses were very prominent, making fans love and hate him. But no one knew at the time that most of these characteristics would accompany him throughout his life. But in any case, his role in the team at that time was mostly positive. In his rookie season, he was named to the All-Rookie First Team, even though the Thunder ranked only 13th in the Western Conference that season. However, this result enabled them to obtain lead carbide and select James Harden, plus KD who entered the industry a year earlier than Westbrook, so that the Thunder's top three were officially gathered. Under the leadership of these three young people, the Thunder's record improved year by year and began to turn the tide in the playoffs.
In the 11-12 season, they defeated Nowitzki's Mavericks, Kobe's Hu Ren and Duncan's Spurs in succession, and finally fought in front of the invincible Heat Three Kings. Although they lost to the Heat and missed the championship, the fourth-year Westbrook delivered comprehensive data in the series, averaging 27.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game, and scored 43 points in the fourth game. That season, he was also selected into the annual second team with an average of 23.6 points and 5.5 assists per game.
In the summer of 2012, Harden left for Houston, and the three young players became twin stars. But Westbrook's performance is still improving. In addition to breakthroughs, he has gradually developed a quick stop mid-range shot, which makes opponents more and more at a loss when defending him. In the 12-13 season, the Thunder played 60 wins and ranked first in the Western Conference. Westbrook, who played in all games and delivered 23.2 points and 7.4 assists, contributed greatly. In fact, he has played in all games since high school, and he is really an iron man. The media generally believed that the Thunder was very likely to meet the Miami Three Kings again in the finals, but everything came to an abrupt end in the second game of the first round of the Western Conference.
In that game, Rockets guard Patrick Beverly threw himself at Westbrook's knees, trying to steal the ball, but Westbrook tore his meniscus, which ended his season. KD, who was alone, was unable to carry the team in the second round against the Grizzlies, which led to Westbrook undergoing four consecutive surgeries in the next five years, paving the way for his gradual loss of explosiveness in the next few years. In the next two years, Baka and KD suffered injuries in turn, which put Westbrook and the Thunder in trouble again and again, but Westbrook's scoring ability became more and more sophisticated. In the 14-15 season when KD was seriously injured, he averaged 28.1 points per game and won the scoring title. In the 15-16 season, the Thunder finally stayed healthy, and Westbrook averaged 23.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 10.4 assists per game, and was selected to the first team of the year. Since that season, Westbrook's organizational ability has improved significantly. This was because Billy Donovan became the head coach of the Thunder. He gave Westbrook great power and urged him to watch more videos and figure out his teammates' positioning and shooting habits. The Thunder also reached the Western Conference Finals again under the leadership of the twin stars.
This was a battle between the 2006 high school students, and the Thunder and the Warriors led by Curry, the three-point king, had a fierce duel. The Thunder led 3-1 at one point, pushing the defending champion Warriors into a desperate situation. However, the Warriors finally completed an epic comeback, thanks to Klay Thompson's outstanding performance in Game 6. He threw in 11 three-pointers like a god, helping the Warriors avoid the collapse of the dynasty.
Although they were only one step away from victory, the outcome would have been clear if it hadn't been for Klay Thompson's magical performance. Unfortunately, after the tactical focus gradually shifted to Westbrook, Durant, who was extremely eager for the championship, finally chose to join the San Francisco Warriors in the summer of 2016 and became teammates with Curry, who had defeated him. This decision was regarded by many fans as an act of surrendering to the enemy.
With Durant leaving the team, the Thunder's hopes of competing for the championship became slim, and it seemed that Westbrook's departure was only a matter of time. However, Westbrook firmly chose to stay in Oklahoma City, which rekindled the hope of the heartbroken fans and rejoiced the city. The mayor even declared August 4th of each year as Russell Westbrook Day to recognize his contribution in signing a contract extension with the Thunder on that day.
With a group of teammates that Durant thought were just random people, Westbrook struggled to support the team and started the 2016-2017 season. However, no one expected that a legendary MVP story would begin. That season, Westbrook averaged an astonishing 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists per game, becoming the second player to achieve this achievement since Oscar Robertson in the 1961-1962 season. The Thunder averaged 106.6 points per game, and Westbrook averaged 55.4 points directly and assisted teammates, accounting for 52.0% of the team's total points. At the same time, he was also the league's key man. In the last 5 minutes or overtime games with a difference of less than 5 points, he averaged 6.2 points per game, ranking first in the league. In addition, his average number of shots per game and average pull-up points per game were also the highest in the league.
On April 9, 2017, Westbrook played a game of the Wind God on the Denver Plateau. With a 14-point deficit on the road, he scored 50 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists, and hit a super long three-pointer at the buzzer to help the team complete the reversal. This was his 42nd triple-double performance of the season, breaking Oscar Robertson's single-season triple-double record. At the same time, this game also killed the Nuggets' last hope for a playoff spot. It was with this performance that Westbrook won the MVP trophy at the end of the season without dispute, and once again won the scoring title and was selected into the annual first team. Although the Rockets eliminated the Thunder 1-4 in the first round of the playoffs, the team had a net win of 15 points when Westbrook was on the court, and a net loss of 58 points when he was off the court. This shows that the Thunder's elimination was not Westbrook's responsibility. After a magical MVP season, Westbrook continued to average a triple-double in the next two seasons, becoming the first and only player in history to achieve this feat for three consecutive seasons. So far, he has 198 triple-doubles, ranking first in history. However, his average points and hit rate have declined year by year, and he finally left the Thunder in the summer of 2019. Since then, Westbrook has moved to the Rockets, Wizards and Lakers, but has failed to achieve significant results. In the Wizards' 20-21 season, he averaged a triple-double for the fourth time, but he has never been able to regain his peak form. After joining the Lakers in the summer of 2021, his performance was questioned and almost became a laughing stock. This season, he played as a substitute again after 14 years. Now he has switched to the Clippers, but suffered a five-game losing streak, which has once again caused ridicule from the outside world.
So, what caused his career to plummet? Injuries and age are factors that cannot be ignored. Beverly's collision caused him to need surgery almost every summer, and Westbrook, now 34 years old, has a significant decline in athletic ability, almost no explosive power, and his shooting ability is not as good as before. In the past six seasons, his three-point shooting percentage has been less than 30% in five seasons, and his free throw shooting percentage has dropped from 85% in the MVP season to 65% today. For a guard who relies on breakthroughs, losing the ability to shoot explosive power, three-pointers and free throws at the same time is almost a fatal blow. In addition, his turnover rate has always been high, which was a double-edged sword in his peak period, but now it has become a fatal weakness. One of the main reasons why his performance in the Lakers was questioned was that LeBron, the teammate, took up more ball rights as the main ball holder, and Westbrook also needed a lot of ball control time. Westbrook's poor off-ball ability made his situation in the Lakers particularly difficult. The reason for his struggle after coming to the Clippers was that he rashly became a starter when he first arrived, inadvertently destroying the team's chemistry. I believe that after enough running-in, he and the Clippers will gradually coordinate their pace. But no matter what, as long as Westbrook plays, his fighting spirit and enthusiasm can deeply infect his teammates. Therefore, even if he is no longer in his peak state, it is a very suitable choice for him to be a veteran in the locker room to guide the newcomers. After all, Westbrook chose UCLA because that was the school his good friend Bars wanted to go to. During Bars' high school years, he and Westbrook were not only teammates but also close friends. Although his talent surpassed the latter, he unfortunately passed away due to dilated heart disease. Since then, Westbrook has been taking care of Bars' family whenever he is free. In a sense, he has been carrying his friend's soul and dream and working tirelessly. It must be admitted that Westbrook has consistently demonstrated his sincere emotions and masculinity. We may not appreciate his occasional poor performance on the basketball court, but we cannot help but be moved by his fiery heart. May everything go well for him in the last stage of his career.