The 2017-2018 season has been something of a struggle for Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Just months after winning his first NBA MVP award by averaging a triple-double and setting the league record for triple-doubles in a season, Westbrook’s issues with efficiency have been magnified through one-third of the season.
Meanwhile, the Thunder are fighting to even reach the .500 mark despite talent that would indicate performance far better than that should be taking place. The thought of a team with Westbrook, Paul George, and Carmelo Anthony should be better in theory than it has been so far.
In one fell swoop on Monday evening, though, Westbrook appeared to release quite a bit of his individual and team-based frustration and the victim was Charlotte Hornets forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.
As you can see, the dunk simply lifted the Thunder into a third quarter tie with the Hornets but the dunk was certainly more impressive than the nuts and bolts would indicate. Of course, it isn’t necessarily shocking to see Westbrook put together an athletic feat that anyone would marvel at but, this time, he caught the body of a high-end defender in Kidd-Gilchrist that happens to have a significant size advantage in what amounted to a one-on-one match-up.
Russell Westbrook makes “wow” plays on a regular basis and, even if they have not been quite as prevalent this season as a year ago, this one certainly qualifies.
