Russell Westbrook is nothing if not himself. So as he and the Oklahoma City Thunder face life without Kevin Durant for the first time in franchise history, it’s hardly surprising that Westbrook says his game won’t change while his MVP-winning teammate recovers from a fractured foot.
In a story by ESPN’s Royce Young, Westbrook stresses that the Thunder’s adjustments in wake of Durant’s injury are more about the team and less about him specifically. Also sure to placate the many naysayers who expect Westbrook’s ball-dominant ways to be exacerbated is his insistence that he won’t play any differently with KD out of the lineup.
“It’s not about me. It’s about our team. I can’t win games by myself. I can’t do anything by myself,” Westbrook said Monday. “I kind of want to take the attention off me and put it more on the team. Everybody keeps asking what I’m going to do and how I’m going to change. I think it’s more about our team and what we can do…”
Asked how his role might change, Westbrook responded simply, “It doesn’t.”
Westbrook is saying all the right things. Oklahoma City should indeed be taking an all-for-one approach to its unenviable circumstances. As we wrote yesterday in assessing the team’s prospects, no single player on the Thunder can replace Durant’s impact – not even his All-NBA sidekick.
But for Russ to maintain that his play won’t be altered is also misleading. He may very well take as many shots as he did previously and boast the same sterling statistical profile he always has, but Westbrook will indeed adapt while Durant is out.
What that means is up to he and coach Scott Brooks. Perhaps Russ will diligently work to get his teammates involved before taking over in the fourth quarter a la Chris Paul. Maybe he’ll work more off the ball and develop into a bruising post-up threat. And perhaps most optimistically, there’s a possibility Westbrook takes this opportunity to seize his sky-high defensive potential and lead his team to new heights on that end of the floor.
Nobody knows for now. Westbrook only played 41 minutes without Durant on the floor last season, after all – any takes on how he and Oklahoma City might adjust while the MVP is sidelined is pure conjecture. Quite simply, this is uncharted territory for the Thunder.
It’s about the team more than ever now; Russ is right. That’s inevitable reality due to Oklahoma City suddenly being forced to play with just one superstar instead of its usual two. But for Russ to act as if his play won’t decide the Thunder’s more than any other player on the roster over the next two months is pure lip service. Westbrook knows that, so we should let his game do the talking for him. We can’t wait to see what happens when he does the same.
Will Westbrook keep the Thunder afloat without Durant?
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