By BEN LOVE
I am an unabashed Russell Westbrook fan.
I said aloud many times on “Bumper to Bumper Sports,” long before the start of the 2016-17 season, that Russ would reign down a season of terror upon the NBA following the departure of Kevin Durant.
And yet, in the wake of Westbrook running away with the Association’s MVP award last night (69 of 101 first-place votes), even I don’t mind asking the question: What message does this award send?
That question probes namely what you’re probably already thinking. Is it a stats award?
Russ pounded stat books into submission this season, becoming the first player since Oscar Robertson in 1962 to average a triple-double. In doing so he also broke the Big O’s mark of triple-doubles in a campaign, notching 42 of his own.
He was the league’s leading scorer at 31.6 points per game, and Westbrook finished top 10 in the NBA in both rebounds and assists (10.7 and 10.4 per outing, respectively).
Then there’s the fact his Oklahoma City Thunder finished sixth in the Western Conference, a 47-win squad in the 82-game regular season.
So some will ponder if winning at the highest level has been devalued, with the new M.O. being get yours individually and what happens to your team happens.
The answer to that last musing is a resounding no. That message hasn’t been sent, and that’s also not what Westbrook did.
Here’s what he did do: Take a team that would’ve won 35 games without him and lead them into the playoffs in the vastly more treacherous Western Conference, all the while proving his immense value by squeezing out every drop of Russ there was to be had over the course of a season.
It was a season for the ages, and his award is well deserved.
Now, as for my italicized question above, that’s a little trickier.
Because I believe the NBA may have, on a lesser level, done what Major League Baseball did in 2012 and 2013 when Miguel Cabrera won back-to-back AL MVP’s over Mike Trout.
They’ve preached to some degree that counting stats are what matter most when measuring value.
Hard to go against Triple Crown type performances, I know, but new-age WAR (Wins Above Replacement) metrics always showed Trout was the more valuable all-around player, combining his impact in the field, at the plate and on the base path.
In Westbrook’s case, the NBA can rest easy knowing Russ also led the Association in PER (Player Efficiency Rating) metrics. So it’s not a slam-dunk instance of counting stat drooling.
But it’s my hope we don’t pass down the lesson that the big numbers are what wins games and awards.
Westbrook, in my view, is all about winning. And I’ll never dog a man that gives his all, all the time.
It’s the NBA and its voting scribes that need to take some caution going forward, remembering Russ’ season for more than just the triple doubles.