Ranking Russell Westbrook's 10 best teammates
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Russell Westbrook is a future Basketball Hall of Famer, highlighted by an NBA MVP award in 2017 coupled with a handful of seasons that saw him average a triple-double.
While Westbrook has been an absolute beast on the court, an NBA championship remains elusive in his career, prompting the NBA MVP to jump from one team to another. This has resulted in Westbrook teaming up with several NBA stars. Here is Russell Westbrook’s 10 best teammates, ranked.
Check out the gallery below.
1. Kevin Durant
Russell Westbrook's career hasn't been the same since Kevin Durant left the Oklahoma City Thunder. Although this paved the way for Westbrook to become a triple-double machine leading to a historic MVP season, it has been a different story in terms of team success. Without Durant, Westbrook has yet to make another NBA Finals appearance.
2. Steven Adams
As a gentle giant from New Zealand, Steven Adams isn’t one of the All-Stars in this list. However, he perfectly blended well with Westbrook’s play.
In fact, with Adams as the starting center, Westbrook had a reliable big man to go to while he was running the show in Oklahoma. While Adams isn’t the most dominant center, he perfectly knew how to play off of Westbrook’s all-around style of play.
3. Serge Ibaka
There’s no doubt that it was Serge Ibaka who anchored the Oklahoma City Thunder when Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were running the show. Ibaka was a defensive-minded big man, who also complemented Westbrook’s play quite well.
His defensive tenacity made life easier for Westbrook on the defensive end while also being an inside threat offensively. He was a crucial piece to the Thunder’s 2012 NBA Finals appearance.
4. Bradley Beal
Landing in Washington, Westbrook had to play alongside Wizards star Bradley Beal, one of the Wizards’ best players in their history. The duo in Washington ultimately transformed the Wizards into a competitive playoff squad.
While they didn’t exactly go deep, just helping the Wizards make the playoffs was already a huge achievement. Moreover, Westbrook still managed to get his triple-double average while Beal was dominating his scoring output.
5. James Harden
The duo between Westbrook and James Harden has drawn some mixed results. While they did go to the 2012 NBA Finals together, since then they’ve reunited twice. One time came in Houston, where they ended up getting the boot in the first round of the 2020 NBA playoffs.
The second time around, they teamed up with the Los Angeles Clippers after they traded for Harden, which never went deep enough to get a sniff of a Finals appearance.
6. Kawhi Leonard
Kawhi Leonard is one of the elite forwards in the NBA, having led two franchises to an NBA title. However, he has yet to do so with the Clippers, even when Westbrook came on board. The team-up failed to produce results. While the duo has displayed some glimpses of their greatness, the lack of playoff success ultimately ended their partnership.
7. Paul George
From teaming up in Oklahoma to playing together in LA, the story was the same for both Westbrook and Paul George. While the duo has consistently expressed their positive feelings about teaming up, the lack of playoff success proves that this duo wasn’t formidable enough.
On paper, this duo has plenty of star power. However, they’ve never materialized their potential in their two stints together.
8. Nikola Jokic
After signing with the Denver Nuggets during the offseason, Westbrook teamed up with another NBA MVP in Nikola Jokic. The reigning three-time NBA MVP should be a promising teammate for Westbrook, who should be gunning for an NBA title to his resume.
While the Nuggets are off to a bit of a slow start at just 14-10, Jokic is averaging over 30 points per game, which would be a career high for a full season.
9. Anthony Davis
Another major star that Westbrook had a chance to play with was Anthony Davis. While Westbrook had a forgettable stint with the Los Angeles Lakers, he did show some glimpses on the floor with Davis. Unfortunately, their star powers weren’t enough to even make a playoff push possible. Their partnership could be described as disastrous at best.
10. LeBron James
A lot of NBA fans will agree that Westbrook’s stint with the Lakers was the worst point of his decorated NBA career. While teaming up with LeBron James may have looked good on paper, the fit was a huge question mark.
James and Westbrook had relatively the same all-around play styles that need the ball to be effective. As a result, Westbrook had one of his worst performances in a Lakers uniform. In fact, the Lakers didn’t even make the playoffs with Westbrook.
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