Oscar Robertson dishes on tough lesson he shared with Nuggets' Russell Westbrook
09/19/2024 03:58 PM
Earlier this offseason, the Denver Nuggets raised eyebrows when it was announced that they would be signing free agent guard Russell Westbrook after his departure from the Los Angeles Clippers. The Nuggets were in desperate need of guard depth after the departure of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope this offseason, and although Westbrook may not be a perfect fit, he will bring some intrigue to Denver this season.
It’s been several years now since Westbrook broke the triple double record once held by Oscar Robertson, and recently, the Hall of Famer took to the All The Smoke podcast to share some conversations that he had with Westbrook behind closed doors.
“I went out to see him in Oklahoma. I was happy for the guy. I said I wanted to tell you this, we were in a room by ourselves talking,” said Robertson. “I said I'm happy for you man, but they're going to turn on you. I said they're going to turn on you because they're going to expect you to do this every night. And even if you do this and don't win they're going to blame you.”
Robertson also spoke on how Westbrook’s reputation as a player has severely diminished in recent years.
“It's unfortunate for Westbrook that they’re doing some of these things to him,” said Robertson. “I think the guy is very valuable to any team he's with but somehow they want to blame somebody. Why blame him, the guy's effective for you. He kept the franchise in Oklahoma going for years.”
Is Russ worth it in 2024?
The MVP candidate version of Westbrook that Robertson spoke of, the one that broke his triple double record and singlehandedly took the Oklahoma City Thunder to the playoffs in 2017, is a drastically different player than the Russell Westbrook we have seen since his trade to the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2021 offseason.
While Westbrook still brings the energy and can have explosive bursts to the basket on occasion, his always unreliable jumper has now completely abandoned him, and somehow, his decision making seems to have had a negative correlation with the experience he has garnered.
Pair this with the fact that Westbrook operates as if he is still the MVP that he once was, and it is fair to legitimately question whether the upside he provides is worth the obvious drawbacks.
To the Nuggets, the answer to that question was clearly yes.
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