Just thinking about how the narrative has changed surrounding Russ. Bro went from being considered an elite level HOF PG to “Russ is trash, he’s not HOF material”. It’s like everyone has forgotten that Russ was the heart and soul of OKC for a decade. The NBA casuals won’t give Russ a break!
by Particular_Policy_18
19 Comments
One of the worst things about all this is Russ still gives his all every night. He did everything the teams asked of him. It was just bad fit. He’s still got a lot left. Hes first ballot HOF no matttet what people say. The pace of the league has increased the last 3 years and STILL no one has averaged a trip dub. He’s a legend. Just stay off R/NBA they love to hate him
he’s 1st ballot HOF and not a single person who knows ball will disagree
Op is just making stuff up no one has said that, the nba hall of fame isn’t that exclusive
Well the Russ slander has been hard to watch but I don’t see many of those folks sayings he’s not a HOF. They just think he’s trash now without taking in any context to his team structures since he left OKC…. Really since Durant left OKC
– stat padding: the last OKC teams were largely ass around him what can he do? At least he was more efficient and could still finish around the rim then. If he didn’t average a triple doubles on any of those teams the end results would surely still be the same IMO.
– Dame embarrassing him in the playoffs:
Sure that was a dumpster fire but the blazers were a clear favorite in that series and I don’t get why this is a conversation. They had the better regular season record and thus, home court advantage. Underdogs do not win often in this league. Its how its always been. Can’t excuse his poor performance in those playoffs but it is what it is.
– him and Pg not able to get it done: kd leaving for nothing hurt, then they had to give up some good assets for PG so it made it a less deep squad. I don’t think they ever should’ve been viewed as contenders. In the NBA if you’re not a true contender you have 0% chance of winning a title.
– he couldn’t play with harden: that was the worst constructed team I’ve ever seen. They actually exceeded my expectations. See my comment above. If anyone thought that squad had a legit shot at winning anything they DO NOT know ball.
– he sucked in Washington and they got spanked in the playoffs: What in gods name was that squad gonna do in the damn playoffs? He literally willed that team into the play in after a dreadful start. At that point Russ should not be your second scoring option. That doesn’t mean he is washed, that’s part of aging. He had a very good second half of the season that year regardless of what your advanced metrics say (I do like these metrics but, like anything data doesn’t always tell the full story).
– that laker stint was dreadful from the start and I truly hated it from day 1. It went exactly how I thought, and of course Russ was the scapegoat of that because his contract was too big to field a competent roster. I will say the trade they made at this deadline was VERY good for them and Russ. I kinda like this new look laker squad ngl.
This brings us to the last point. For the first time since that wcf team in ‘16 Russ is in a role that should fit his skills on a team that are could win it all if everything clicks. Out of the post kd thunder, rockets, wiz and LAL this is by far the best constructed team he’s been on and it’s really not close.
I’m fairly confident he will have a positive impact on the team and I am 100% rooting for them the rest of the way as I’m sure many of you are. I think he just needs to shoot less and be a willing screener which to me are 2 very easy things that can be bought into with a roster constructed like the clippers. He finally doesn’t have to be any more than where his aging skill set is.
Sorry for the pasta I’ve just been real tired of all the lazy takes I see about our guy.
PS: I am white but I am TIRED of seeing these white talking head nerds on ESPN constantly lazily attack Westbrook left and right. It’s literally only them. The former players call it as it is with Russ, but these dudes like Lowe and Windhorst get like visibly angry when talking about Westbrook.
Because NBA casuals are Lebron groupies that’s why
#HE TRASH
It’s all about media narrative. Unless you follow every player on every team the discussion about a player is largely being shaped by the narrative surrounding the player. People don’t like Russ for a ton of reasons, a few of which were Russ’s doing (but now he’s accepting a smaller role so it’s becoming less of Russ’s fault).
[Lonnie Walker thought the same things before actually being around Russ.](https://twitter.com/honourthegift/status/1625691435226857475?s=46&t=zocho_GYSCXzhdhxAJ_Z8g) If you take away the media narrative, people love playing with Russ. Everyone from PG, to Bradley Beal to even less liked players like Enes (Kanter) Freedom say Russ was one of their best teammates.
Lakers fan base is trash. Hopefully Clippers will push a better narrative. Although I have to admit, he’s gotta stop with those crunch time airball 3’s lmao. I love the dude, but those didn’t help.
Aight look he isn’t TERRIBLE, but he’s nowhere close to what he was in OKC. Bro was throwing open middies of the glass that he would’ve knocked down contested in OKC. We’ll see if his new change of scenery helps idk though
It’s not that complicated. He got old. He isn’t the same player he was. Lakers were a dumpster fire even before he got there, and it was a bad situation for him even in the best case scenario, but pretending his previous MVP-level play invalidates his current level is almost as dumb as when the haters act like his current level invalidates his previous MVP level play. We’re building teams for 2023, not in 2017.
Of the guys who were generally considered the best players in the league back then (LeBron, Durant, Curry, Kawhi, Paul George, etc), none of them are at that peak anymore. No matter how good your favorite player is, Father Time is better, despite LeBron making one hell of a run against him.
For the record, I do think he will somewhat succeed with the Clippers. It’ll be a smaller, much easier role with good roster synergy alongside a player he has proven past chemistry with on a team that’s already won a lot of games and, unlike the Lakers, gave up literally nothing to get him and isn’t spending a huge chunk of their cap space on him. But just because he was blatantly scapegoated for all the Laker’s issues doesn’t mean he wasn’t *one* of those (many) issues on the court. At best, he certainly wasn’t the solution. He wasn’t even the best player who formerly played in the greater OKC area on that team.
People really forget about all the rings he won with you guys.
There will always be players who don’t play ball with the media and get shitted on when their play decline. There’s also players who are lucky enough to have won a ring so they become bulletproof. We ALL know some on both sides of my statement, but I’m not trying to deflect.
Russell Westbrook seems like the ultimate teammate and colleague..and likely friend. He also thought never relented or allowed himself to be clowned. Very honorable, but as he is ring less he will never get his flowers until he either becomes an analyst himself, does powerful work outside of the NBA, or dies.
It’s really not about casual, most people knew his brand of basketball would not translate to winning a championship. Now it’s being confirmed. I hope he does better with LAC, because I root for someone who plays that hard…I just don’t think it will happen with Father Time slowly taking his amazing skills away and Russ isn’t developing handles or a shot. That’s not a good combo for a PG.
A lot don’t like him because he torched their favorite teams and players. Did it with an attitude too.
Casuals have always hated on him for his play style and shot volume.
I’ve been defending this man online since 2012.
He is still a first ballot hall of famer.
That narrative was a laker fan creation, you’ll see.
He is simultaneously a lock 1st ballot hall of famer and a currently terrible nba player. Most greats go out like this, especially when their main skill is their athleticism and it declines.
I mean you can’t stay elite forever. Russ is unfortunately just doing something we all do. Age.