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Russell Westbrook has been belittled, scapegoated, badmouthed and used as a means to propel the careers of media analysts over the past six to seven years.
The career, legacy and impact of a nine-time NBA 'All-Star', amongst numerous other achievements, does not get questioned. Unless that individual's name is Russell Westbrook.
Sports Personality's Nick Wright, appearing on his podcast, "What's wright? with Nick Wright" shared his opinion on the former NBA MVP.
Wright stated:
"It's unfair and disingenuous to act like Russ never had good playoff games"
Wright, on his show "Nick’s Top 50 NBA Players of the Last 50 Years", had Russell Westbrook ranked at 35, which is a symbol of the 'Point Guard's' greatness.
Russell Westbrook, taking into consideration his horrendous season, has been criticized, ridiculed, and has even had his entire legacy questioned, which is a 'spit in the face' to the man who has accomplished a lot as well as changed the game.
Wright said:
"Russ was maybe the single hardest player to rank of this entire enterprise, because Russ' regular season accomplishments are up there with the 12-15 greatest players ever."
Westbrook's regular-season statistics are mind-boggling. The nine-time 'All NBA' guard also has the 2016-2017 NBA 'MVP' on his resume, during his time at the Oklahoma City Thunder. In addition, 'Russ' has two scoring titles and three assist titles to his name.
Russell Westbrook's drive, dedication, passion and love for the game enabled him to be an 'All-Time Great'. The former OKC guard became the first player to match Oscar Robertson's 'Triple-Double' record, enhancing the record by averaging a 'Triple-Double' for four seasons out of five. Revolutionary.
Nick Wright brought more light to Westbrook's greatness. He added:
Let's go to 2016, that's the year the 73 win Warriors were down 3-1 to Russ' and KD' Thunder. Let's talk about what he did there, in round one against dallas, 36-12-9 to send Dallas home, averaged for games 5 and 6 of the Western conference semi finals against the Spurs to send them home averaged 32-7-12 in those two game."
"So again it's all going good. To go up 3-1 on the warriors in the Western conference finals, averaged 27-7-12 including 36-11-11 in game 4 to go up 3 to 1."
Westbrook's love for the game is expressed in the manner in which he plays. It involves a lot of trash-talk, attitude, and passion which is misconstrued for hate and dislike by those in the media.
Russell Westbrook's Playoff Woes
Despite all his accolades and achievements, the Lakers guard has been torn to shreds by NBA analysts for his playoff performances. Dislike for the player has stemmed from the his inability to perform during the NBA playoffs, and is deeply rooted through the viewpoints of said analysts.
Westbrook's inability to bypass the 'playoff dilemma' has been a serious predicament and poses an obstacle to the former 'All-Star's' widely varied legacy.
The former 'MVP' has never been able to transcend his regular-season showings into the postseason. This statistic will forever leave an asterisk in Russ' illustrious career.
