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One of the biggest reasons for the Oklahoma City Thunder's turnaround this season has been Russell Westbrook's improvement on the defensive end of the floor, and he may have Paul George to thank for that.
In an interview with Sam Amick of The Athletic, George said he playfully challenged Westbrook to get better defensively before the season started:
“I asked Russ at the start of this year if he had an All-Defensive Team (selection) yet, and he said, ‘No,’” George said. “And of course, my answer to that was, ‘Why not?’”
Knowing how competitive Westbrook is, George likely knew that type of challenge would light a fire under him, and it has resulted in Westbrook posting the best defensive rating in the league early this year:
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“I think (the defensive improvement is) Russ understanding and knowing what he has behind him has given him an aggression to play defensively,” George explained. “He’s just so gifted naturally, and he’s one of the best athletes this game has seen, so we’re a different team when he’s dialed in and he’s on another level defensively. There’s no team that can score on us.”
The Thunder are currently the No. 1 ranked defense in the NBA, and while guys like Steven Adams and George are premier defenders at their positions, a lot of it has to do with Westbrook's improvement on the defensive side of the ball.
“Whether you can score on me or not, I’m going to give you everything I have and I’m going to make it as hard as possible,” said George. “And that’s how he approaches it. But I think that’s why our team is so good defensively. Steven is the same way. We’re on JG (Jerami Grant) — JG’s the same way. We’re all going to take ownership on having somebody try to score on us.”
