“They don’t make ‘em like they used to.”
Most times you hear that about cars, music, movies, even restaurants – all have digressed in quality as we cite progress and evolution. Me? I’m s shoe guy. Over 600 pair – sue me for the title.
The same goes for the NBA – and NBA players – as the entertainment product evolves.
I’m not going to do a deep dive into the disrespect that some players have gotten simply because they’ve aged, and a skill here or there slips on occasion. People have already done that without hesitation or class, making brutal comments, articles, and memes.
Did you enjoy your 15 minutes of TikTok or Instagram fame?
Because while you’re giggling at yourselves, Russell Westbrook has enjoyed 17+ years of successful basketball – more successful than the people who bash his stats, but who are dead silent when he excels for someone on their 18th season.
Last Wednesday night, Westbrook lit the beam for the Sacramento Kings, and the city it’s fan base, after the Kings’ win over the Golden State Warriors, 121-116.
Some may say “big deal, it’s pushing a button – it’s a gimmick, nothing special.”
Those who say that will never be convinced that a guy a week shy of his 37th birthday can still drop a triple double and lead a team to a victory over a team that is arguably in the conversation for an NBA title this year.
That’s right. Westbrook lit the beam because he lit up the Warriors with 23 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists to complement DeMar DeRozan’s 25 point effort in the win. This performance two nights after Westbrook lit up his former team – the Denver Nuggets, you know that team that didn’t want him back – with a 26 point, 12 rebound, six assist night, albeit a loss in Denver.
The triple double was the 204th of his career, and in case people forget, Westbrook is the NBA’s leader in triple double performances – yes, even over Nikola Jokic (164) and Oscar Robertson (181). He’s the NBA’s all-time leader in that category.
His career stats are 21.1 points per game, seven rebounds, and eight assists through 1247 career games (so far). People have made jokes at the expense of Westbrook’s fall off in three point and field goal percent in his lean seasons in L.A. with the Lakers and Clippers.
Yet no one is acknowledging that his 45.1 percent from three this season is his best to date, or that his overall field goal percentage is at 46.6, barely third behind his 48.9 with the Clippers in 2022-23 and 47.2 with the Houston Rockets in 2019-20.
He has been a nine-time All Star, and even is a bit of my personal trivia, as in 2015 I went on The Coach Scott Fields Show and said Westbrook would be the NBA All Star MVP on a January broadcast, before Brodie had even been selected to the All Star team. (Check out the 17 minute mark of the video and remember this was in January of 2015). He was the 2015 NBA All Star MVP, setting the table for the potential to be the league’s MVP soon thereafter.
He was your 2016-2017 MVP when Kevin Durant bolted to the Warriors after Golden State eliminated the Oklahoma City Thunder. That was on a team that had no other star power. Only Steven Adams remained from the previous year’s starting lineup. You might remember that Domantas Sabonis, Victor Oladipo, and Jerami Grant were still very green and coming into their own at that time, yet the Thunder went 47-35 and made the playoffs, before bowing out versus the Rockets, 4-1, winning only Game Three.
And speaking of those Rockets, let’s talk Kevin Durant, who never seems to be in the mix when we talk about all time greats and is seemingly always overshadowed by LeBron James in head-to-head comparisons, yet is revered as one of the best, most pure scorers in the history of the league.
I can’t believe I’m coming up on the 19 year anniversary of when I first saw the Slim Reaper play in the Basketball Hall of Fame Challenge in Phoenix, when the Texas Longhorns lost to the Gonzaga Bulldogs despite a 29 point, nine rebounds from the freshman/one-and-done Durant.
(By the way, where are Dan Dickau, Jeremy Pargo, and Josh Heytvelt now? Yeah, I’ll wait … )
After hoping the Portland Trailblazers would select Durant with their #1 pick, they pulled another Sam Bowie-over-Michael Jordan boner by selecting Greg Oden over Durant and KD went to the Seattle SuperSonics. While people – including my son – were lining up for Oden’s autograph, I was in the Thomas and Mack Center continuing my observation of the gift that is Kevin Durant.
Easy Money Sniper is why I made my way from Phoenix to Denver to Oklahoma City to be a member of credentialed media in that locker room; the Sonics took Westbrook at No. 4 the next year and then Clay Bennett moved the team to Oklahoma City after claiming they would remain in Seattle after he purchased them.
I got to see the Thunder build something special together with Durant and Westbrook alternating as alpha players, James Harden growing into one of the best Sixth Men in the league, and the team eventually making it to the NBA Finals against James, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat in 2012.
But Durant had a difficult decision to make in 2016, and many are split in their loyalty to him based on his jump to Golden State, where he would win two titles with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green.
Many would say he rode their coattails, yet in their two titles with Durant on the roster, he was the NBA Finals MVP. The same expectations for his impact were expected in his time with the Brooklyn Nets along with Harden and Kyrie Irving; then again with the Phoenix Suns with Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.
Didn’t happen.
Nonetheless, Durant has been one of the game’s all time best scorers, averaging 27.2 points over a 1,132 game career that’s in its 19th year. His all-time field goal is 50.2 percent; by comparison, ‘the purest shooter of all time’ (Curry) is at a 47.1 percent clip, 42.3 from three over his career.
“That’s what he does,” Curry told Medium of Durant. “He’s efficient and pretty low maintenance, and nobody can really do anything about it.”
Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers once told Sports Illustrated, “I’ve given up trying to figure out how to stop him.” Harden said, “he’s one of the best players to ever touch a basketball; he’s God-given seven foot – he can basically do everything.”
Durant is now in a position to mentor young men in Houston, with his years of experience to shape the careers of young men like Amen Thompson, Alperen Sengun, and Reed Sheppard.
Oh, and in the meantime, contribute a team-leading 24.8 points – and a couple former Sonics/Thunder buddies like Jeff Green and Steven Adams to help the mentorship to greatness in Houston.
And who knows, maybe we see a seven-game, all double overtime Western Conference Finals between the Houston Rockets and the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
I mean, Durant was forced to watch the Thunder get their first ring under Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and not him.
Will he get to close out his career with a last hurrah?
A lot of miles left and a lot of miles to go … and we should sit back and enjoy the ride with the old guard still kickin’ tires – and kickin’ ass.
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Tracy ‘T-Money’ Graven is the Senior NBA Analyst for BackSportsPage.com owner of TMoneyMedia.com and also has his posts on SubStack at allballs.substack.com
He has written the NBA, appeared as a guest on NBA Radio, and the last 25+ years for HoopsWorld, Swish Magazine, HoopsHype, the Coach Scott Fields Show, NBARadioShow.com, and also tackles the NFL and NCAA. He’s spent 25+ years in locker rooms in Orlando, Boise (CBA, G League), San Antonio, Phoenix, Denver, Oklahoma City, and Atlanta.
He has raised five kids, and now currently resides in the heart of SEC Country near Knoxville, Tennessee – home of the 2024 Men’s Baseball World Series Champion Tennessee Volunteers.
Reach him on Twitter at @RealTMoneyMedia
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