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Russell Westbrook may very well make history again. This time, he can do it much more under the radar as the reigning MVP and Oklahoma City Thunder point guard is just 16 rebounds away from averaging a triple-double for the second straight season.
Most years, that would make him the obvious frontrunner for the MVP. However, the Thunder are just barely making the playoffs and James Harden is having an insane season in his own right for the NBA-best Houston Rockets.
What's more amazing this year is how Westbrook may pull this off despite two new additions in Paul George and Carmelo Anthony who were supposed to take away from the need for Westbrook to do everything. Russ still tries to do a ton and his scoring is done quite a bit but it's flat out remarkable that he is this close to averaging a triple-double again.
It's on George and Anthony as the primary reason why Westbrook won't be the MVP this season, according to ESPN's Stephen A. Smith:
“Carmelo Anthony and Paul George have been overrated this year in terms of what Russell Westbrook has at his disposal. I believe in Paul George and I believe that he is a star in this league for years to come … [Anthony] hasn't looked in the greatest shape, he hasn't looked like the No. 1 option that he was for the New York Knicks for years.”
“We look at this team, their 47-34 record, how they've been up and down this year, and instead of appreciating the greatness of Russell Westbrook carrying this team on his back the way that we should, what we've done is instead we've looked at Carmelo Anthony and Paul George and said, ‘They are not what they're supposed to be.' We expected more from them.”
So Smith is saying that George and Anthony playing under their expectations has distracted the NBA from just how great Westbrook has been.
This is a very compelling point from Smith and Westbrook's play has certainly flown under the radar perhaps more than it has deserved to. The fact of the matter remains that the Thunder are just barely squeezing into the playoffs and MVPs usually need to get a higher seed, despite the fact that Westbrook won it last year without that on his side. Voters aren't going to make that pick again this year, especially with the way Harden has played.
