Russell Westbrook for MVP?

Welcome to the Truda Report everybody. About a week ago I wrote about James Harden's comments on LeBron James sitting out games, and how that affected the MVP race. At that time I said that to me, LeBron James will always be the most valuable player as long as he is in the league, but I also said depending how the year ends my pick might be different. I also had an article about how Russell Westbrook's selfish play was not worthy of the MVP award. Now that he is officially tied with Oscar Robertson for the single season triple double record, and is also going to average a triple double on the year, my opinion had still not changed.

As I said earlier in the year, Russell Westbrook is an incredible player and what he has done for the Thunder is incredible, but his selfish play and stat stuffing style is not MVP play. What secured that opinion for me was his play in the same game he secured the triple double stat line. He was 6-25 from the field, and so he started hunting for assists. There is a great video on ESPN of Westbrook passing up two open shots in one possession just to try and get an assist. First, he drove into the lane and passed up an easy layup to kick the ball out to Steven Adams behind the three point line. Then he ran out to the three point line where he got the ball again. There wasn't a single defender within 5 feet of him, and yet he still passed again to try and get the assist. Selfish, stat stuffing play, is not MVP caliber basketball. If he is more concerned with his own stat line than the teams overall success, than there is no way he can be named the most valuable player. I can think of every other team in the NBA and tell you that their best player is not as selfish as Westbrook, and because of that they might be more valuable to their team.

People are going to react poorly to me saying this by saying that I'm a hater or that other players have boosted their stats on purpose before. What I say to that, is they are right, but only to a certain degree. I have seen games in the past where at the end of a game the team lets a guy get 2 rebounds so he can have th triple double, but that's once or twice a year max. Westbrook has been doing this all year long which is why I have a problem with it. Also, I am a hater, of selfish play. I think that the Warrior's system to be perfect, where the ball is in the open mans hands, not the stars. They always pass and never rely on one person to take over a game. On the contrary, Russell Westbrook always takes over the game, and not always to his teammates liking. I think that he is definitely a contender for the award, but in my opinion he can't win.

Thanks for reading everybody. If you want to express your opinion or request a topic either follow me on Instagram @thetrudareport or email me at thetrudareport@gmail.com