Russell Westbrook For MVP?
Homestly, who can stop this man now?
Hoooooooooooooooly Westbrook. In a world where the top MVP candidates usually belong on teams that have a substantially superior regular season record, Russell Westbrook, whose Oklahoma City Thunder are barely hanging on to the last playoff seed in the West, is just as deserving if not more of the heralded award.
Steph Curry is no doubt flourishing on the best team in the NBA, and James Harden is carrying the Dwight Howard-less Houston Rockets on his shoulders. Both are in the superior western conference so it’s tough not to anoint them as MVP. In the Eastern conference, King James (who most analysts consider “the best player in the world”) who’s developing a winning culture in his hometown of Cleveland clouding the picture as well, but when you’re the first player to achieve four triple doubles in four games since His-Airness himself (MJ for you half-wits) your name must be considered.
The Numbers
Over the course of his previous 4 games, his stats are as follows.
| Date | Result | PTS | REB | AST |
| 2/24/2015 | OKC 105, IND 92 | 20 | 11 | 10 |
| 2/26/2015 | PHO 117, OKC 113 | 39 | 14 | 11 |
| 2/27/2015 | POR 115, OKC 112 | 40 | 13 | 11 |
| 3/4/2015 | OKC 123, PHI 118 | 49 | 16 | 10 |
Now granted, two of those games resulted in losses, but they were both on the road by a combined total of 7 points. With Durant out, the Thunder don’t present too much of a scoring threat. But the “Masked Man” is playing with a reckless abandon like no one has ever seen before.
It’s no wonder why Kobe Bryant, on ESPN’s rendition of “Grantland Basketball Hour” highlighted Westbrook’s style and passion of play to be similar to his when the black mamba was in his prime. And it’s not like he’s getting Rajon Rondo style triple-dubs where he’s going 12 pts, 11 asts, and 10 rebs.
This man-child dropped 39, 40, and a career high 49 points in his last 3 games along with the triple-double! On top of that career 49 point night, he also got his career high in rebounds 16 rebs.
Oklahoma City Thunder
With Kevin Durant’s return being right around the corner (he stated he will 100% be back in time to get some regular season games in), the Thunder seem like more than just a promising team to do well in the postseason. In fact if you take a listen to my 2-part podcast with Francis Tefarikis, you’d hear me go out on a limb predicting them to be the champions in June.
But as far as Russ is concerned, it seems as if he couldn’t wait for his opportunity to show he can single-handedly take on the responsibilities of being the go-to guy on a team striving for a playoff berth. Without a doubt, his name should be mentioned in the MVP convo, and without a doubt, he is the most entertaining player to watch right now as he is literally ON FIREEEEE!!!!
