In European basketball, there is generally no reference to the point guard position, rather, it is referred to as simply a “playmaker”.
Think about that.
Unencumbered of the old-fashioned notion of a pass-first guard who brings the ball up court and only shoots as a last resort, the European model simply quote-unquote makes plays, be it scoring for him or herself or setting upteammates.
Indeed, it remains one of Larry Bird’s favourite descriptors for the way he played.
If only it had been that easy for Russell Westbrook.
The Oklahoma City Thunder superstar has been a force of nature throughout his seven-year NBA career, playing with a raging, molten, Vesuvian fury as if the rims themselves had done him wrong.
The other side of that volcanic coin was the tendency to play out of control, averaging as many wild shots per game as he did turnovers.
It was easy, if not downright lazy, to simply pigeonhole the UCLA alum as a shameless gunner, the latest in a long line of shoot first, second and third, think about passing and shoot anyway, selfish guards who played only for their own statistical gratification.
This of course, conveniently ignored his distribution, his white-hot intensity, his ability to *gasp* make plays.
From such a polarising position Westbrook has commenced this NBA campaign playing with no less suppressed rage, averaging 26.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and a career-high 9.8 assists per game, the latter mark good for second in the league.
He’s accounting for more than 61 per cent of the Thunder’s assists while he’s on the floor and has racked up 15 double-doubles and three triple-doubles, totals that run second only to Detroit’s Andre Drummond and Sacramento’s Rajon Rondo respectively.
He’s shooting at a far more efficient rate as well, his True Shooting percentage at a personal-best .580, and additionally, while PER does have its flaws and tends to reward high-volume shooters like Westbrook, there’s not much arguing with a 31.3 rating.
Yes, his turnover numbers are at a career-high 4.9 per game, although this has clearly been affected by having to carry the Thunder’s offensive load in the six-game absence of fellow All-Star Kevin Durant.
Notably, Westbrook has cut down the errors dramatically over the past week or so, averaging around three per game, while at the same time shooting at well over 51 per cent from the field and keeping his assist numbers close to the double-digit mark.
In any other year he’d be already be one of the early front-runners for league MVP honours.
That he has had the misfortune of doing it while Wardell Stephen Curry is trying very hard (and mostly succeeding) to reinvent the way we all think about basketball is both not his fault and something that is just so very much a typical Westbrookian moment of timing.
When he plays erratically, everyone sees it. When he plays at career-best levels, it gets a little lost amid the clutter of the Warriors historic start.
Isiah Thomas, a man who is no stranger to the art of being a scoring playmaker, noted on Inside The NBA on Friday, “I love the way they’re (the Thunder) slowly coming together and developing.”
“You know they’re explosive but the thing I’m most impressed with is Westbrook, in terms of his decision making and his assists.
“Every night you look up and he’s got double-digit assists and the thing that we were criticising him about earlier was that he didn’t get others involved.
“Now he’s getting others involved, he’s playing well and shooting and he’s still rebounding; he’s maxing out in every category.”
Maxing out is right, there’s been very few teams who have avoided the brunt of a Westbrook explosion so far.
The opening night salvo of 33 points and 10 assists in a win over the Spurs and the 48, 11 and eight the following night against the Magic was simply a warning klaxon for the rest of the league.
Back to back 40-point nights against Memphis and New Orleans soon followed, all the while shooting at a shockingly efficient clip and distributing a total of 22 assists over the two games. And so it goes.
It has become somehow almost routine then, to see Westbrook rack up these numbers and still not give him the attention he deserves.
With a 15-8 record, the Thunder sit comfortably atop what is an admittedly flat Northwest Division and the questions surrounding OKC’s championship mettle under new coach Billy Donovan remain very much unanswered. It is only December after all.
So leave it to Isiah, the second-greatest backcourt playmaker of his generation, and a man who – unlike Westbrook – hid his own fierce competitive nature behind an angelic countenance, to sum up the Thunder star’s influence, not to mention his unwavering intensity.
“I’m nervous both nights (playing Curry or Westbrook) because they come at you in different ways.
“I’m probably going to have more problems with Westbrook, in terms of his mentality, because he comes at you with a mentality that no other guard really plays with. It’s 48 minutes of constant energy.
“Steph Curry’s jumpshot right now is like Michael Jordan’s dunk. When Jordan used to dunk and everybody got all excited, that’s Curry’s three.
“So you’re nervous about the three, so with Curry I would just get up on him and ok, I’m going to give you 20 layups tonight but I ain’t giving you no three-point shots.
“But with Westbrook, he’s just got a different kind of thing he’s bringing to the game, just like he makes you a little uncomfortable.
“You’re scared of both of them. The difference is, you look at Westbrook and say ‘he might hit me’.
“You look at Steph, you know we’re just going to have a basketball game but Westbrook, you’re just not sure, this dude may do something, you know? (laughs)”
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