Not a few quarters viewed Russell Westbrook’s transfer to the Wizards in the offseason as proof of his polarizing nature. As the first and only Most Valuable Player awardee to be traded in consecutive years, he possessed extraordinary skills fueled by stubbornness that likewise served to highlight his undesirable traits. On one hand, he boasted of laser-like focus and unwavering commitment to winning, making him stand out even among other marquee names. On the other, he stood as the epitome of hero-ball predilections gone awry, with advanced metrics exposing him as a largely inefficient playmaker.
Needless to say, the Wizards hoped he would continue treading the path to improvement that he was in with the Rockets prior to being slowed by a quadriceps injury and a bout with the novel coronavirus. Throughout the small sample size, he took fewer three-point shots and wound up with the highest number of field goals at the rim among players not named Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James. For all the negative feedback, they figured he was, at the very least, worth the gamble; they hadn’t made the conference finals since 1979 for nothing, and they looked to him as a solution of the kitchen-sink type.
As things turned out, the Wizards were right to bank on Westbrook for a brighter future. Yesterday, he didn’t just record the 181st triple-double of his career, tying all-time record holder Oscar Robertson in the process; more importantly, he led the red, white, and blue to their 15th triumph — against just four setbacks — in the last month. His unrelenting assault on the stat sheet has fueled their success. Following an extremely slow start, they’re now ninth in the East and on pace to make the play-in tournament. And, despite their obvious handicap, who would want to face them in the face of the momentum they’ve built on the strength of his remarkable extortions?
At this point, a change at the top of the career triple-doubles career is a matter of when, not if; in all likelihood, Westbrook will be taking the crown against the Hawks tomorrow. Knowing him, however, he’ll be fixated on getting the W first and foremost. As he argued the first time he met members of the media as a Wizard, “When I am on the floor, I don’t have any friends. I am not trying to be friendly. I’m trying to bust somebody’s ass. I ain’t got time to try to shake hands and do all that. I don’t have time for it, and I am never changing that.” Indeed. The most hard-headed star in the National Basketball Association is holding court, and, thus far, his way is producing positive results.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.