On the flip side, though, it was easy to criticize Westbrook. The high-usage player would fall into some bad habits, such as taking over the offense and not playing a winning style of basketball in the playoffs. His extreme style of play caused the lows to be low in contrast to historic highs.
The video-game-esque box-score numbers mesmerized, but the frequent late-game meltdowns paired with his high volume and low efficiency scoring game alienated him from certain groups of basketball fans who value the opposite.
It also doesn’t help that he’s declined faster than his peers. Kevin Durant and James Harden continue to age well in their late 30s as All-NBA caliber players. Meanwhile, Westbrook remains out of the NBA. Of the three, he’s the most likely to retire first. Of the three, his prime was the shortest.
Turning into a running joke in recent years, Raymond Felton recently spoke up to defend his former Thunder teammate. He spent his last two seasons in the NBA as OKC’s backup point guard from 2017-19. On his “To The Baha” podcast, he went on a rant about the toxic discourse that has surrounded Westbrook.
“The man has been hated on and put to the side his whole entire career. This ain’t nothing he’s not used to,” Felton said. “But how can you just disrespect the man and his loyalty that he had to OKC? Even when KD left, he stayed loyal.”
After Durant left the Thunder, Westbrook’s decision to stay catapulted him to the top as the most beloved OKC player in franchise history. While the next three seasons had mixed results with individual success but poor playoff outings, there’s no question he cemented his spot as somebody who’ll eventually get his No. 0 retired by the NBA champion.
Westbrook’s haters will always be there. But that comes with the territory. For the good, you take the bad with him. The former MVP winner was one of the best players in the league for nearly a decade. Any other franchise would take that peak.
