While Russell Westbrook has been an amazing basketball player for years and will almost certainly be a first-ballot Hall of Famer after he retires, he has gotten some criticism over the last few years.
People have accused him of looking out for his own stats at the expense of his own team and even being somewhat uncoachable.
He is now a member of the Denver Nuggets, a team that won the NBA championship just 15 months ago, and head coach Michael Malone addressed another big criticism of Westbrook — his defensive shortcomings.
According to Malone, Westbrook took on the task of guarding the other team’s best player last season, per NBACentral.
“When people talk about Russell Westbrook, nobody mentions defense…End of games last season, he was guarding the opposing team’s best player.”
– Michael Malone
(Via @HarrisonWind ) pic.twitter.com/HusEEjrBtu
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) September 26, 2024
Because of his athleticism and intense competitiveness, Westbrook likely has the ability to be a plus-defender, but he has instead been seen as a liability on that end of the floor.
Some have accused him of cutting defensive possessions short and leaving his man to chase defensive rebounds, supposedly in order to pad his stats and pursue triple-doubles.
Westbrook isn’t quite the prolific player he was several years ago when he averaged a triple-double four times in a five-season span, but he does have the ability to augment what was a poor Denver bench last year.
Denver lost starting shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free agency this summer, and many feel it will be a key loss for them, especially since they relied on teamwork and synergy to win it all in 2023.
Now, they will be relying on Westbrook to infuse them with energy and pace as they look to regain basketball’s grand prize.
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