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Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook is currently playing the best basketball of his career and is posting incredible numbers through 23 games.
On Friday night, he tied Michael Jordan for seven straight triple doubles and has pushed his season average to 31.0 points, 10.9 rebounds and 11.3 assists per game. However, despite his unbelievable performances this year, Dallas Mavericks‘ owner Mark Cuban is still not convinced that he is a superstar.
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It can be recalled that during last year's playoffs, the outspoken team owner said that Westbrook is not one, and has not changed how he sees him even if he is on pace to average a triple-double for the season. Cuban recently talked about it but made it clear he does not want to take away anything from the 28-year-old UCLA product's stellar play so far this campaign.
“He's putting up superstar numbers. That's for damn sure. I'm not taking anything away from what he's been able to accomplish, but I'm not going to change my definition. He's putting up superstar numbers. You can't deny that.”
“That's no disrespect to Russell. He's been a beast. Few have done what he's done, but I'll stick by my definition. I'm not saying that he's not going to prove me wrong and that he [won't be] a superstar by the end of the year. That's fine, but I'll stick by my definition.”
It may still be a long way to go before Westbrook can end the regular season replicating Oscar Robertson's feat in 1962-1963, but with his usage rate and how important he is to the Thunder, it will be hard to imagine him not being able to sustain the pace he's currently on. It's also interesting if Cuban will publicly admit that he has proven him wrong if he still averages a triple double in April.
