The Oklahoma City Thunder have a lot of questions to answer. But first, they need to know what Paul George is going to do. He has a decision to make on his player option. And then there’s Carmelo Anthony, who doesn’t want to come off the bench. Then there’s Russell Westbrook, who keeps getting flak for being ‘selfish’ on the court.
However, George thinks Westbrook has a right to be upset. No, seriously. George suggests Russ should be shooting more. Per ESPN’s Royce Young:
“I’ve never cared. I try to play the game the right way and make the right plays. I’ve never been a guy that’s been salty about the shots I’m getting, what shots somebody else is getting. That’s never been who I’ve been. I just try to play the game the right way.”
But then he starts talking about Russ. And while people believe Westbrook takes too many shots, George believes he didn’t get enough down the stretch.
“Fact of the matter is Russ got it going early, Russ had it going throughout the whole game, and you saw the competitor competing the hardest that he could. Honestly, there were times I had the ball where I should have been more aggressive. But just I was mindful. He had the hot hand, he was going. So, you know, if anything, he should be the one pissed about the little shots that I took.”
George might have a point. After all, he would finish with just five points on 2-of-16 shooting. But that’s not all. Westbrook would tally 46 points while shooting 7-of-19 from three-point range. But it did take him 43 shots to get to 46 points. That’s hardly efficient.
But it seems like no matter what Westbrook does, it doesn’t matter. He tries to do too much. But, he doesn’t seem to want to adapt to the teammates that surround him.
And that needs to change soon, even if it’s just a little bit.
More must-reads: