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Russell Westbrook Triple-Double Watch: Game 50 hits, and we mind the minutes
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook is threatening to become the first NBA player to average a triple-double since Cincinnati Royals Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson achieved the double-figure points, assists and rebounds mark during the 1961-62 NBA season. A lot has changed in the league since then, which is why Westbrook’s current averages of 30.9 points, 10.5 assists and 10.5 rebounds would make such a feat a remarkable achievement in line with some of the greatest individual seasons in NBA history. If not the greatest individual season in NBA history.
As Westbrook takes on each new opponent while the OKC season drawls on, we’ll be updating his chances at matching the Big O’s feat.
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So, Russell Westbrook didn’t achieve a triple-double on Tuesday night, in Oklahoma City’s near-blowout loss to the San Antonio Spurs. It happens, 26 times in 23 games this year, even.
It tends to mostly happen against the Spurs, though. And the Charlotte Hornets. And the Chicago Bulls. Famously, at this point, Russell Westbrook has never reached triple-double totals against the Spurs, Bulls and Hornets, and luckily for all of us Westbrook will welcome Chicago to Oklahoma City on Wednesday night.
The Spurs, though. They get in the way, too.
Westbrook fell four rebounds shy on Tuesday night, while registering just as many turnovers (that would be six) alongside 27 points and 14 assists in San Antonio’s 108-94 conquest.
Russell left that game with single-digit rebounds and two minutes left in the contest, but with the Spurs up 18 points at the time OKC coach Billy Donovan thought it best to remove his superstar, who was playing his fourth game in seven days.
Less-worrying is Westbrook’s 34.7 minutes per game average, tops on the team but only 20th in the NBA. For an MVP candidate, if not clubhouse leader, it would rank as alarmingly low if Stephen Curry hadn’t averaged 33.7 last season. That’s two minutes less per game than Steve Nash, already years removed from back woes at age 31, averaged during his second MVP season in 2005-06.
That is to say, there is a league-wide trend. Minutes, for just about every star but LeBron James (weirdly), are going down. Coach Donovan is aware. From Royce Young at ESPN:
“Obviously with a guy like Russell Westbrook, on any team, the best for him and for our team would just to play him 48 minutes,” Donovan said with a laugh. “That would be great. But that’s not fair to him, it’s not fair to his career, it’s not even fair to our team if we’re trying to evolve into being a very good team.”
[…]
“For us to be the best team that we can possibly be, he cannot be Superman and rescue us from everything,” Donovan said. “There’s got to be some development and growth and improvement with a lot of these young guys. And if you’re constantly using him as a backstop all the time, like our guys that came off the bench in the fourth quarter, that was a great opportunity to learn and grow and see themselves there.”
[…]
“You can’t, in my opinion — and I’m always going to do what’s best for him, his career and physical well-being — is start just wearing this guy out, playing him 38, 39 or 40 minutes.”
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Keep in mind that Billy Donovan is talking about Russell Westbrook as a sort of next-generation LeBron James. Which, in many ways, Westbrook is – outside of the championships won, and championship-level supporting cast. This isn’t a legend toning it down after so many Finals runs. This is a lone wolf dragging a team up from what could have been a disastrous offseason, also stretching to achieve a statistical landmark that hasn’t been achieved since the days in which the Berlin Wall was mostly made of barbed wire.
The fact that the triple-double chase has become an afterthought at an age (Westbrook turned 28 in November) where Gary Payton (39.2), John Stockton (37.8), Jason Kidd (37.3), and Magic Johnson (36.6) averaged so many more minutes per contest is astounding. Allen Iverson averaged 42.5 minutes per game at age 28. Oscar Robertson averaged 43.9 when he was 28. He averaged 44.3 during his final triple-double year.
Nearly ten per game more than Russell Westbrook averages in 2016-17.
Of course, the Bulls are up next. And Russ has never worked Chicago over for a triple-double. He might need those extra minutes against a top ten defense. Charlotte, and its ninth-ranked defense, awaits on April 2. There is time to pad these things.
What Russell Westbrook Would Have To Average From Here On Out, In Order to Lose His 30-Point and Triple-Double Average (Which Hasn’t Happened Since Oscar Robertson Achieved the Mark During the 1961-62 NBA Season)
Russell could average 28.93 points, 9.18 rebounds and 9.54 assists over his remaining games and still average a triple-double with 30 points.
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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
