Skip Bayless excludes Russell Westbrook from Basketball Hall of Fame with brutal assessment of his deficiencies

Russell Westbrook was one of the top point guards in the NBA during the 2010s, winning MVP in 2017 by averaging a triple-double throughout a season and becoming the face of the OKC Thunder. However, NBA analyst and longtime critic Skip Bayless had him excluded from the Basketball Hall of Fame.

In Thursday's episode of "The Skip Bayless Show," the analyst cited Westbrook's deficiencies that have plagued him throughout his career as to why he should not be included in the Hall of Fame of the sport.

“How many first-ballot Hall of Famers were on five teams on six seasons?,” he said. “That’s because he led the NBA in turnovers four times and he was second four times. He’s a career 30.5 percent three-point shooter, as a point guard. That’s because Russell Westrook has been under 70 percent from the free-throw line in six of the last seven years.” [3:41]

Additionally, Westbrook has yet to win an NBA title in his career, only reaching the NBA Finals once in 2012. Skip Bayless believes that Westbrook would be a first-ballot Hall of Famer due to his accolades during his prime alone, including an MVP and tallying triple-double averages in multiple, a feat that has never been done before.

However, he thinks Westbrook has only done it for himself and not for the greater good of his team.

“He averaged triple doubles because nobody in the NBA has played harder…than Russell Westbrook,” he said. “But he’s also as egomaniacal as any player ever. Always driven more to stat and star than to make winning plays. Russell Westbrook has always played exceptionally hard without conscience, without remorse, without memory, without perspective. He’s played hard for Russ.” [1:23]

This season, Westbrook and his Denver Nuggets got bounced out of the playoffs in the second round against the Thunder. If the Nuggets advanced, Westbrook would have competed in his first conference finals since 2016, when he was still a teammate of Kevin Durant in OKC.

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Skip Bayless says beef with Russell Westbrook is ‘personal’

Skip Bayless has been jabbing Russell Westbrook publicly on his sports shows. In 2024, Bayless revealed that he was doing it because of his personal animosity with the former MVP.

"This runs deep for me, and there is some personal here, I will admit," he said.

Bayless then recalled the time Durant, whom Bayless is a fan of, left OKC for the Golden State Warriors in 2016, leaving Westbrook with the Thunder.

"Remember, Kevin chose to leave Russ…And I was told by somebody very close to Kevin Durant the main reason he left OKC going into his 10th year, he left because this was the quote I was told 'he finally decided he'd never win with Russ as primary decision-maker,’" he said.

Durant and Westbrook have since buried the hatchet and have been seen hugging each other whenever they face off on the court. For Westbrook, next year will be his 18th year in the NBA. He still has a player option on his contract next year.