NFL
There are numerous players who have left the Oklahoma City Thunder and Russell Westbrook over the past decade. When the news broke of Paul George being traded I couldn’t help picture Westbrook in his room, singing the Heart song… Alone.
I hear the ticking of the clock
I’m lying here the room’s pitch dark
I wonder where you are tonight
No answer on the telephone
And the night goes by so very slow
Oh I hope that it won’t end though
Alone.
Til now I always got by on my own..
Below is a list of players who left the Oklahoma City Thunder and Westbrook. All of these players have thrived after leaving.
Taj Gibson
Domantas Sabonis
Dion Waiters
Reggie Jackson
Jeff Green
Enes Kanter
Serge Ibaka
James Harden
Carmelo Anthony
Victor Oladipo
Kevin Durant
Paul George.
Some left via trades and some left on their own. The OKC Thunder keep trying to trade players that fit Westbrook’s style of play. There are 5 Hall of Fame players who played with him, So is it their fault or his fault?
Why don’t players fight to stay with the former UCLA Bruins Star?
Westbrook has become a triple double machine but it appears that those stats are more important than winning. Carmelo Anthony
said that, “Westbrook steals rebounds from his teammates”. LeBron James and Magic Johnson have the most career triple doubles in playoff history but neither one of them care about that. All they care about is winning titles.
You look around the NBA during this free agency period and almost everyone took a pay cut to play with teammates they like. Durant is playing with Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis is playing with LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard is playing with George. No one is lining up to playing for #Thunderup.
Watching Russell play is exciting, he is a ball of energy and can do things we have never seen a point guard do.But, he is a ball stopper, takes too many bad shots in the 4th quarter and he is a terrible three point shooter. The NBA game is evolving, Westbrook isn’t. If he doesn’t demand a trade he will put up great numbers, but never win significant playoff games or an NBA title. Until Westbrook evolves he will continue to be alone. He will never win a title being the #1 option, ever.
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