Damn near every play Russell Westbrook makes exudes Russ. As much as nostalgia urges us to compare players to the benchmarks that came before them, Westbrook is a special case, a player unique enough to generate flowing ballads and lengthy criticisms alike.
If there’s a play from the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Game 5 season-ending loss to the Houston Rockets that was even more Russ, it was a moment late in the third quarter.
Westbrook barreled into the lane, forcing Trevor Ariza to foul him due to his sheer physicality. Both free throws missed, but it was Westbrook bolting off the free throw stripe — a maneuver most don’t even attempt — to grab his own rebound. Westbrook peeled out like a high-schooler driving his first car, careened towards the three-point line, and launched a three that could only be described as reckless. It splashed home.
It was a play that defined the mercurial, headline-dominating point guard as well as any other this season. And it still didn’t matter.
Oklahoma City’s season ended on Tuesday in a 105-99 loss, a series that should be remembered as much closer than the number of games indicates. But in the final 48 minutes of the Year of Brodie, Westbrook showed all his talent, his flaws, and everything that made him the most eye-catching player in the league.
For 48 minutes, Westbrook was utterly, absolutely Russ.
Westbrook’s line speaks volumes: 47 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists, 15-of-34 shooting. His fourth quarter stats reveal another layer: four points, 2-of-11 shooting. Let’s go another layer: on his final shot attempt, he stole an offensive rebound from the Rockets, who really should have known better, immediately scored on a layup, and missed a free throw in a foolhardy attempt to earn another possession through offensive rebounding, even though the made shot would have turned it into a three-point game.
Oklahoma City has come down to the same sad dilemma all season: right or wrong, they routinely ask Westbrook to do the impossible. Often, he actually does it, which is why he will likely be revealed as the league’s MVP. The arguments are so close, but when you often see a player do impossible things, it’s hard to say he’s not deserving.
Sometimes, though, Westbrook would try his damndest to meet that impossible standard and understandably fall short. In the fourth quarter, Westbrook’s usual eight minutes of rest narrowed to only a couple. Down the stretch, he was visibly gassed, worn thin by the Herculean effort he provides on a nightly basis. Westbrook’s poor shooting (he was 2-of-11 in the fourth quarter) lost the Thunder the game, but it all happened in a way that made you feel sympathy for them.
Maybe the Thunder don’t have to play that way, as many have reasonably argued. But sink yourself into the emotions that come with any NBA game, and it sure feels like that’s the only way they can play.
In the end, Russell Westbrook’s 2016-17 season died in the same way it lived: by being Russ with no apologies for it. His year is over, and we will close a chapter of the NBA that — if we can agree on nothing else — refused to ever let us look away.
Only in defeat, and with Westbrook’s presence stepping away until next season, can our eyes finally tear themselves away to catch something else.