Russell Westbrook knows what it takes to win MVP. The Oklahoma City Thunder superstar emerged victorious in one of the most hotly contested MVP debates in recent memory two seasons ago, when he held off the Houston Rockets' James Harden and San Antonio Spurs' Kawhi Leonard to win the award in his team's first season playing without Kevin Durant.
Now, Westbrook has another superstar teammate who's worthy of MVP consideration: Paul George, who's lighting the league on fire of late by scoring at least 36 points in six of his last seven games. What does Westbrook think of George's candidacy for the award?
“The one thing I always continue to pride myself on is being consistent. And this year, in my opinion, ‘P' has been very consistent,” Westbrook told The Oklahoman's Erik Horne on Wednesday. “To be able to do the same thing every night is not easy to do, so it's something that I don't take for granted. I think a lot of people around the world who don't play basketball, don't play sports, don't understand how hard it is to be consistent and get your mind right every night to be able to do something. So for him to be able to do that, and stay on the path to be able to do that, he's definitely the frontrunner for my MVP.”
Paul George is enjoying a career year in 2018-19, averaging 28.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 2.3 steals with a 60.1 true shooting percentage. Just as bright a feather in his MVP cap? The Thunder's net rating with George on the court is a team-high plus-10.8, and their net rating him on the bench is a team-worst minus-11.4, per NBA.com/stats.
Consistency is indeed key when it comes to the MVP race. Overall impact looms even larger, though, and Paul George has been a bellwether for Oklahoma City on both sides of the ball all season long.
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