If not for the historic brilliance of Steph Curry, the NBA world would be talking about Russell Westbrook.
The Oklahoma City Thunder superstar is following a banner campaign in 2014-15 with arguably the best play of his career during the season’s early going. Not only has he maintained the status as basketball’s premier triple-double threat by averaging 28.6 points, 7.0 rebounds and 10.6 assists per game, but Westbrook’s longstanding efficiency issues are nowhere to be found over his team’s first five games, either. The 26-year-old is shooting 49.5 percent overall and 36.7 percent from beyond the arc, good for a near-elite true shooting percentage of 58.7.
Nevertheless, now that Kevin Durant is healthy and back on the floor, the majority agrees that Westbrook is the Thunder’s second-best player. What’s the only thing keeping that opinion from reaching a complete consensus? That the 2014 MVP apparently doesn’t ascribe to it.
After watching his fellow superstar score 22 points and dish 16 assists in Oklahoma City’s 103-98 loss to the undefeated Toronto Raptors on Wednesday, Durant called Westbrook his team’s “best player.”
It's KD. He's humble. And Westbrook has been crazy good. But it was interesting Durant called RW "our best player" pic.twitter.com/3hw8xtihyi
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) November 5, 2015
Does Durant actually believe he’s inferior to Westbrook? We doubt it. Health provided, the four-time scoring champion will eventually stake his claim to being the greatest player in the world this season. He doesn’t need to take a back-seat to anyone.
But whether Durant really thinks Westbrook is the Thunder’s best player or otherwise also doesn’t matter.
It wasn’t long ago, remember, that many assumed the supposedly fragile on-court relationship between Oklahoma City’s superstars would render their time together fleeting. Durant and Westbrook have proven that baseless line of thinking wildly outdated, and just as importantly ensured such talk wouldn’t resurface given their obvious sense of kinship for one another.
The Thunder aren’t just lucky to boast the most devastating tandem in the game, but also fortunate that their top players get along so well. Other than further confirmation of Westbrook’s dominance, Durant praising his teammate is simply the latest indication of that reality. Nothing more.
