Colin Cowherd: “The Raptors had a chance to get Russell Westbrook over the weekend and the best GM in the NBA, Masai Ujiri, said ‘NO THANK YOU’. The Triple-Double and the embrace and pursuit of it has come back to haunt Westbrook and it now defines him. The NBA has never been more about playing well with others and his brand has never been more about an INDIVIDUAL stat. The media marketed, promoted, and sold the Triple-Double and now it’s hurt Westbrook. HE’S A STAT GUY.”
Listen to Colin Cowherd explain why he believes the Triple-Double ultimately damaged the career of Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook as the allure of one of sports’ most celebrated statistical anomalies ended up ruining Westbrook’s playing style.
Oscar Robertson became synonymous with being known as the last NBA player to average a Triple-Double during the regular season in 1967 until Westbrook amazingly accomplished the feat in 2017. He would then hang two more Triple-Double seasons in 2018 and 2019.
As an outsider simply looking at the numbers, you would think Westbrook’s fame would have become legendary and possibly made him a candidate as the greatest player of the generation, but his stock around the league has shockingly plummeted during these last three ‘spectacular’ seasons.
Check out the audio below as Colin details why the allure of an extremely rare, albeit made-up statistic burned Westbrook’s brand around the league as a stat-padder who can never win a championship.
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