It is uncommon to see a future Corridor of Famer willingly take a backup function on the finish of his profession. That is not the case with Russell Westbrook, who signed with the Sacramento Kings Wednesday for his 18th NBA season.
Westbrook is way faraway from his prime with the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder, the place the purpose guard made eight All-Star groups, reached the NBA Finals in 2012 and received MVP in 2017 after averaging a triple-double for the season. Nonetheless, the relentlessness that outlined Westbrook’s recreation when he was a celebrity could also be what’s protecting him enjoying within the NBA, whilst his star has light.
Because the Thunder traded him six years in the past, Westbrook has performed for 5 completely different groups, with the Kings being his sixth, going from 27.2 PPG scorer with the Houston Rockets to a relentless presence in Sixth Man of the 12 months voting. He is modified from a ball-dominant rim-attacker to a reliable defender and microwave bench scorer — even when his effectivity is missing.
Russell Westbrook tailored his recreation to his new function
Throughout his second season with the Los Angeles Lakers, Westbrook started coming off the bench for the primary time since early in his rookie yr. Whereas initially reluctant, Westbrook ended up growing his assists, lowering his turnovers and scoring extra on a per-minute foundation as a reserve.
He landed with the Los Angeles Clippers, the place he took over as the place to begin guard. With Kawhi Leonard and Paul George each out, Westbrook averaged 23.6 factors, 7.6 rebounds and seven.4 assists within the playoffs, together with 1.2 steals and 1.4 blocks. After outdated teammate James Harden arrived the next season, Westbrook remade himself as a point-of-attack defender, transferring a few of his relentless vitality to protection and rebounding for a staff that had a trio of All-Star scorers already.
With the Denver Nuggets, Westbrook additionally took a bench function, although he ended up beginning 36 video games. He elevated his three-point taking pictures to a less-terrible 32.3 p.c, continued to cross the ball and made an enormous help for a game-winner to Aaron Gordon within the playoffs.
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