Russell Westbrook came into Friday night’s game against the Suns in need of six assists to reach 820 for the year. This would ensure that he would become the second player in NBA history to average a triple-double over the course of an entire season.
Westbrook ended up with eight assists on the night to get there, along with 23 points and 12 rebounds, but there were some who questioned whether he was trying too hard to get assists and earn yet another triple-double.
After the game, Westbrook was asked about that and his reaction was hilarious. He chuckled and noted that he was 6-for-25 from the field, so of course he was trying to pass a little more since his shot wasn’t falling.
Westbrook on if he was trying to pad assists late: "I was 6 for 25. What the f*** you want me to do?" (NSFW, of course) pic.twitter.com/9M6sLMxQy8
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) April 8, 2017
The best part was saying “if I wanted to get 10 assists, I’d get 10 assists” at the end. There’s no reason not to believe Westbrook when he says he can get 10 assists whenever he wants to considering what he’s done this season. One of the chief complaints against Westbrook this year – and it’s absurd that there is an anti-Westbrook contingent this year at all – has been that he’s been trying too hard to get triple-doubles.
Charles Barkley questioned whether it’s been detrimental to the Thunder that he has hunted for triple-doubles, which seems ridiculous that someone could consider it a negative that someone would try to score and pass all at once, but that’s a thing people have tried to say. Westbrook clearly doesn’t care what others think about anything he does, and while he’s clearly not afraid to keep shooting on an inefficient night, he felt his shot wasn’t there against the Suns and that he needed to see if maybe some teammates could find the basket more often.
