The Oklahoma City Thunder have remained as one of the NBA's best teams in recent years thanks in large part to Russell Westbrook, who has been the team's centerpiece as it continues its quest for a championship.

Westbrook, 30, is having yet another phenomenal season for the Thunder. He's on pace to average a triple double for the third straight year, and just recently, he notched his tenth consecutive game with a triple double, surpassing the NBA record of nine games, previously held by Wilt Chamberlain.

Brodie's stellar performance this year has elevated OKC into a contender. After starting the season with four straight losses, the team is now just one game behind the Denver Nuggets for the second spot in the Western Conference standings.

However, a lot of fans still believe that Westbrook can't lead the Thunder to a championship. People see his recent play as a way to show off  and pad stats.

In short, most people are still not impressed with Westbrook, despite the fact that he is the first player in nearly six decades to average a triple double for an entire season and the first to do it more than once.

The All-Star guard knows how heavily criticized he has been over the past few years, but he has learned to ignore all the negativity and just focus on the game because he believes what he's doing is something that has changed the basketball as a game and as a culture.

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One of the things that Russell Westbrook has been able to do to silence his critics is become a better teammate. Over the past few years, a lot of people see him as a stubborn individual who refused to take a back seat on offense. This led to his dustup with Kevin Durant, who eventually left OKC to join the Golden State Warriors.

This season however, he is more than willing to adjust to Paul George, who has become the Thunder's primary option both on offense and defense. George has become one of the leading candidates to win this season's MVP award, while Westbrook is still playing at an elite level despite taking less responsibility on both ends of the floor.

But will this be enough for OKC to win the title this year?

They certainly have a chance, especially if Westbrook and George are playing this good.