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Russell Westbrook vows to shoot better, vents at critics: 'Don’t mean s--- to me'

Jason Owens
Staff writer

On Tuesday, Russell Westbrook’s Oklahoma City Thunder were eliminated from the playoffs by the Portland Trail Blazers.

The loss was the third straight in the first round by Oklahoma City, all of which have come since the departure of Kevin Durant and none of which have been close. The Utah Jazz won, 4-2 last season and the Houston Rockets beat the Thunder, 4-1 in 2017.

Portland’s 4-1 series win included a star turn for Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard and raised questions about the construct of the Thunder and how effective Westbrook can be in an NBA that values elite shooters like Lillard.

Russell Westbrook lashed out at critics while vowing to fix the most glaring deficiency in his game. (AP)
Russell Westbrook lashed out at critics while vowing to fix the most glaring deficiency in his game. (AP)

Westbrook does a lot of things on the court very well. Shooting is not one of those things.

Westbrook lambastes critics

The mercurial guard had a chance to answer his critics Thursday during an end-of-season news conference. He’s heard the noise.

“There used to be conversations that I was a ball hog,” Westbrook said. “Now I lead the league in assists for the past three years, or whatever it is. That’s getting squashed out.

“Now the conversation’s about shooting. Next year, Im gonna become a better shooter. After that it’ll probably be, f—-, my left foot is bigger than my right one. Who knows?”

Westbrook has, in fact, led the league in assists the last two seasons while averaging a triple-double in three straight seasons. It’s a remarkable accomplishment, one that no other player in the history of the game has come close to.

Westbrook not deterred by his poor shooting

During it all, he’s been one of the league’s worst 3-point shooters. In the 2018-19 season, Westbrook shot 29 percent from behind the arc. With everything else he provides on the court, it would be that big of a problem if he didn’t do it so much.

But his lack of success did not deter him as he averaged 5.6 3-point attempts per game.

He was criticized for focusing on a one-one battle with Lillard during the loss to Portland. As Lillard continually torched the Thunder, Westbrook turned the games into a shooting match — one that he couldn’t win.

He actually upped his 3-point volume against Portland, averaging 6.8 attempts per game. His 32.4 percent success rate did not justify the shots.

The result of the series reflected his ineffectiveness. While he says he’ll be a better shooter next year, he’s insistent that his game is otherwise just fine.

Russ: ‘I don’t really care’

“I don’t really care what people say, what they think about me,” Westbrook said. “Because it doesn’t really matter. I know what I’m able to do and know what I’m able to do at a high level every night. And nobody else can do what I can do on a night-in, night-out basis. And I truly believe that. If they could, they probably would. But I know for a fact that nobody can.”

He’s right. Nobody in basketball can do what he can do.

But the issue that’s been magnified over three straight seasons of playoff failure is how effective he can be doing what he does when he’s an inefficient scorer in a league that values efficiency.

“If you want to determine my career over what I’ve done over two or three games, you go ahead,” Westbrook said. “That don’t mean s—- to me. It doesn’t. I’m gonna wake up, like I’ve told you before. Three beautiful kids. I’m gonna wake up and smile, be happy — enjoy my life.”

It’s great for Westbrook that he has life perspective. But the criticism of his game is legitimate, and it goes well beyond a span of two or three games.

Westbrook vowed to come back next season a better shooter, a season where he will be 31 years old. It’s a dramatic, unlikely shift in his game he’ll need to make if he wants to the the lead player on a team with playoff success.

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