There is only one way to say this.
When Russell Westbrook has an opportunity to leave Oklahoma City he will. He simply isn’t equipped to be a “Robin” to KD’s “Batman”. Westbrook is currently Bobby Brown trying to do 12 minute versions of Mr. Telephone Man during the New Edition tour.
A similar situation took place many years ago with Kevin Garnett and Stephon Marbury. You don’t have to be a NBA expert to see the friction is building even while OKC is winning.
Russell Westbrook let his emotions get the best of him Wednesday night, and it led to an altercation with Kevin Durant on the bench during a second-quarter timeout.
Westbrook never recovered and finished with arguably the worst performance of his career, scoring just four points on 0-for-13 shooting with six assists, three rebounds and four turnovers.
Westbrook’s frustration appeared to have started with just 3 1/2 minutes remaining in the second quarter when he drove into the paint and kicked the ball out to Thabo Sefolosha in the corner. Sefolosha passed up a wide open 3-pointer, which prompted Westbrook to yell at Sefolosha “shoot the (expletive) ball.”
Sefolosha and other teammates, including Durant and center Kendrick Perkins attempted to calm Westbrook down immediately during an ensuing trip to the free throw line. But the emotions spilled over to the bench one minute later.
Durant appeared to again settle Westbrook, but Westbrook appeared to take exception to how Durant delivered his message. The two began shouting at each other and had to be separated.
I don’t think Westbrook is a bad guy, I think he is just struggling with his role and doesn’t have a lot of control over his emotions. He wants to be the leader of a team that already has a general.
It is very difficult to have two Alpha males on the same team, someone has to make sacrifices and no matter how talented Westbrook is this is Kevin Durant’s squad.
Similar to Marbury I think it would be a mistake for Westbrook to jump ship, but I believe it is inevitable. The best we can hope for is that Westbrook doesn’t end up on Ustream eating Vaseline 10 years from now.
Original Story:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blacks...
|
December 30, 2011
