‘Showing everybody who he really is’: Russell Westbrook having his best stretch since Wizards stint

J.J. Redick’s initial opinion of the Los Angeles Clippers signing Russell Westbrook was like that of a lot of NBA analysts at the time. When Westbrook joined the Clippers in February after being bought out by the Utah Jazz, Redick suggested that while Westbrook might be able to help the Clippers win a playoff game, the superstar would create more problems for the Clippers than he would solve.

“It’s the same (crap),” the ESPN analyst, a former NBA guard himself, said of Westbrook. “He’s a guy when we’ve seen him succeed later in his career, it’s when he’s got the ball in his hands, and he’s surrounded by shooting. 

“And that’s not going to be the case here.”

Redick, it turned out, was half right. Two months later, Westbrook has indeed helped the Clippers win a playoff game. But the former MVP has exceeded all expectations by playing at a level the nine-time All-Star has reached rarely since leaving the Washington Wizards in the summer of 2021. 

In the playoffs, Westbrook is averaging 26 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game as the Clippers head into Tuesday’s Game 5 against the Phoenix Suns. Los Angeles is down 3-1 in the best-of-seven series, but Westbrook has carried the Clippers’ offense — particularly without an injured Paul George (knee) and Kawhi Leonard, the latter of whom has missed the last two games because of a knee injury.

This isn’t a twist that many saw coming. Over the last two years, Westbrook — one of the league’s most polarizing players — looked to be on his way out of the NBA. After the Wizards traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers, Westbrook struggled to fit alongside co-stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis and his stats plummeted. Westbrook’s Lakers tenure was such a disaster that it inspired scathing comments like this one from The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor: “Russell Westbrook is a washed-up bricklayer who needs to be traded immediately for the Los Angeles Lakers to have any chance of saving their season,” O’Connor wrote, three games into this season. The Lakers ended up trading him to the Jazz, who made it clear they had no use for Westbrook and allowed the veteran to join another team. 

Westbrook, though, has rediscovered his rhythm. Even if he’s no longer an MVP-caliber player, in these playoffs he resembles the player that people saw over the course of a storied 14-year career.

“When he’s retired, people are going to really tell the truth about how they feel about his game,” said Suns star Kevin Durant, Westbrook’s former teammate in Oklahoma City. “Right now, the fun thing to do is make a joke out of Russ. 

“But the way he’s been playing since he got to the Clippers is showing everybody who he really is.” 

Durant’s comments to reporters came after Westbrook finished with 37 points on 17 of 29 shooting in Phoenix’s Game 4 win. It was Westbrook’s first playoff game with at least 35 points in five years — when he was still a member of the Thunder. 

So why is Westbrook suddenly having so much success? To Redick’s point from February, the Clippers are letting Westbrook be Westbrook. 

That means Westbrook has become the focal point of the offense as he aggressively attacks the rim, gets out in transition and finds open shooters. The Clippers, too, have the shooters in place to keep the lane open for Westbrook as Phoenix has to account for 3-point threats like Eric Gordon, Nicolas Batum and Marcus Morris. Westbrook arguably hasn’t had this sort of space and freedom since he was alongside Bradley Beal in Washington — where he averaged a triple-double and led the Wizards to the playoffs in 2020-21. 

But that’s not the full story, either. Before Leonard got hurt, Westbrook served as a secondary playmaker — and was still able to create an impact. In fact, his best outing of the series against Phoenix might have been Los Angeles’ Game 1 win.

Despite shooting a poor 3-of-19 from the field, Westbrook swung the game late with a series of effort plays late that included multiple offensive rebounds and a game-clinching block on Suns guard Devin Booker. 

“I feel like the only people who do (criticize Westbrook) are people who don’t really know basketball,” Suns star Chris Paul said, “and what it means to compete.”