For all you NBA fans out there, all-star weekend kicks off Feb 17th in New Orleans where some of the greatest talent basketball has will be on display. When looking over the starting lineups it shocked me to not see Russell Westbrook starting as the western conference guard. He was chosen as a reserve player behind Steph Curry. This got me thinking. Is Steph Curry better and more deserving than Russell Westbrook?
I am sure if you are a Golden State fan or a Russell Westbrook hater, and believe me I know there are a lot of you out there, this question is easy.
I get it. Steph Curry is the “do everything right”, “role model” poster boy for the NBA and Russell Westbrook is more of the “bad boy”, “say it how he sees it” kind of guy that plays in a smaller market city. Image is important to the NBA, and that’s understandable. Keep the well-spoken, say the right thing guy front and center and keep the baller who doesn’t take shit from the front office in the background. What if Russell Westbrook played in Los Angeles or Chicago, would he have still been snubbed?
Let me try to sell you why Westbrook is a better player and more deserving all-star starter than Steph Curry this season.
Let’s imagine for a minute the all-star game wasn’t predicated solely on popularity within the league. Let’s make-believe that Russell Westbrook played for a big market team. Let’s pretend that the 2017 all-star game was based on in season performance, and that only. Here is a comparative look at four of the most important statistics an NBA guard is measured on.
2016-17
PPG
Russell Westbrook: 30.9
Steph Curry: 24.2
RPG
Russell Westbrook: 10.5
Steph Curry: 4.3
APG
Russell Westbrook: 10.0
Steph Curry: 6.0
STPG
Russell Westbrook: 1.36
Steph Curry: 1.67
For god’s sake he is averaging a triple double halfway through the regular season. What the hell does the guy have to do? Oh yeah, say and do what the league wants and play for a bigger market team. Westbrook deserves to be the NBA all-star starter without question over Steph Curry.
-Lipko