January 18, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0, right) dunks the basketball past Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) during the third quarter at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Thunder 121-100. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
The ‘Rich list’ Edition 4, also known as “Russ plus four’ features OKC Thunder Russell Westbrook and the top performances of January 16th, to 22nd, 2017.
So, before I get into this week’s edition of the Rich List, I wanted to spend a minute on the All-Star Starter snubs. I’m putting all bias aside, and my writing about the OKC Thunder all year has absolutely nothing to do with any of this. This is coming strictly as a passionate fan of the NBA my entire life.
Russell Westbrook is not starting in the All-Star Game for the Western Conference.
The leading scorer in the NBA is not a starter. The guy who is averaging a triple-double for the season; something that hasn’t been done in over fifty years since Oscar Robertson, is not starting in the All-Star Game. The guy who has 21 triple-doubles in 44 games (as of the time I’m writing this, I’m sure it’s gone up by the time this gets posted,) is not an All-Star starter.
Meanwhile, the ten players who are starting have combined for 19 triple-doubles, and if you remove Harden’s 12, the other 9 players have 7. I understand that triple-doubles aren’t the be-all end-all when it comes to debating the merits of choosing who should start in the world’s most glorious exhibition, but come on! The worst part about it, unfortunately, is it’s our fault. The fans are the reason that this happened.
Must Read: Is Westbrook All-Star snub worst in history?
Whoa, Whoa, whoa! Keep reading before you go to the comment section and flame me. As you may or may not be aware, the NBA changed how the starters would be determined this year. Instead of it being 100% up to the fans as it was in previous years, this year the fan vote counted for fifty percent. The other fifty percent was split evenly between the players and media members.
January 16, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) during a stoppage in play against the Los Angeles Clippers during the second half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Russell finished first in both the player and media vote. However, he inexplicably finished third in the fan vote, behind Steph Curry and former Thunder Buddy James Harden. Steph finished third in the player and media vote, and Harden finished second in all three. Since Russell and Steph tied, the tiebreaker went to the fan vote, which counted for more than the other two votes.
Now, all due respect to Steph Curry who is an amazing player, but shame on all of us. I know there are a lot of outside factors here: Golden State is a bigger market, Golden State certainly has the biggest bandwagon, etc., but come on! Russ is making history this year, and even though it’s ultimately meaningless the fact that he isn’t a starter is positively egregious.
That being said, in a roundabout way, we have succeeded. We just poured gasoline on the forest fire that is Russell Westbrook’s motivations to go Super Saiyan. I think we’re in for an even more prolific second half of the season.
Must Read: Five Shooters the Thunder Should Target
Finally, one more overall point about the All-Star voting process, which although I’m a fan of splitting the vote in three (it ensured that Zaza Pachuila didn’t earn a starting nod over Russell, which is blasphemous to even think about), is still very flawed.
The Eastern Conference backcourt selections are a prime example of this. Again, all due respect to both Kyrie Irving and DeMar DeRozan, who are both having wonderful seasons. But, DeMar DeRozan isn’t even the best guard on his team. Kyle Lowry is the most complete guard in the Eastern Conference. I’m not disagreeing that both Irving and DeRozan are All-Stars, but I don’t think they should start over Isaiah Thomas, or Kyle Lowry, or even John Wall; all three of whom contribute more to their teams’ success than DeRozan or Irving.
Jan 13, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10) talks with Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) during the first quarter in a game against the Brooklyn Nets at Air Canada Centre. The Toronto Raptors won 132-113. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
If the five best players in the West are Steph, Harden, Russ, KD, and Kawhi Leonard, for example, then why not let those five start? If, in a year or two, the five best players in the East are Lebron, Giannis, Joel Embiid, Kristpas Porzingis, and Jimmy Butler, than why shouldn’t they be starting together? The game itself is pure entertainment: take positions out of it and let’s get weird with it.
2. My own personal favorite: playground rules. The top 30 players (considering the rosters are expanding to fifteen players next year, it stands to reason that the All-Star rosters should expand as well), are put into a player pool. The top two vote recipients are named captains. Let’s use Steph and Lebron as examples. The captains select their fifteen players from the pool.
Jun 19, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) and guard Iman Shumpert (4) and Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) and guard Stephen Curry (30) react in the second quarter in game seven of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Who picks first? Well, there’s really only one way to decide these things: Rock Paper Scissor, best two out of three. Just imagine Lebron and Steph having a stare down before engaging in Rock Paper Scissor. The NBA can even have their own Selection Sunday show. It would probably have to be during the afternoon of Super Bowl Sunday, since that’s the only time all the teams are off before All-Star week.
Must Read: Thunder could end January better than expected
The Inside the NBA crew would host the event. No Conference limitations, no position limitations, just 15 guys on each team. Imagine seeing Lebron, KD, Anthony Davis, Russ, and Kawhi Leonard go against Steph, Kyrie, Jimmy Butler, Giannis, and James Harden? Doesn’t that sound amazing? Wouldn’t it be cool to see Draymond get switched onto Steph? Or Lebron having to guard Kyrie?
Personally, I think this would be way more fun, and it eliminates silly snubs like Russell not being selected as a starter.
So, yeah, that’s what I think, now onto the Rich List for the week of January 16, 2017- January 22, 2017, and in honor of eliminating positions for the All-Star Game, I’ve eliminated positions on the List this week.
January 18, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) dribbles the basketball against Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) during the third quarter at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Thunder 121-100. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Russell Westbrook:
It was a short, but rough week for Brodie and the Thunder. They lost both games that they played, and Russ struggled, for his standards anyway. Despite averaging 25 points per game (PPG), Russ’s shot abandoned him this week as he shot 35% from the field and 23% from deep. He also had trouble taking care of the ball, as he averaged 7 turnovers against 8.5 assists, and he still had 10 rebounds a night. Bottom line: this is his list for a reason, and I’m not about to snub him again.
Keep doing you, Russ.
Kevin Durant:
I’ll make this quick since we hear enough about the Death Star Lineup literally everywhere else. The Warriors steamrolled their way to a 4-0 week, and former Thunder Buddy Kevin Durant was one of the main reasons why. KD led the league with an absurd +28 behind 27 PPG, 8 rebounds, 5.5 assists, only 1.3 turnovers, 1.8 steals, and 2.5 blocks in a hair over 31 minutes a game. Moreover, he shot 62% from the field, 45.8% from deep, and 86.4% from the stripe.
Golden State is like playing 2K on Rookie. With cheat codes.
Jan 17, 2017; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs small forward Kawhi Leonard (2) shoots the ball over Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) during the first half at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Kawhi Leonard:
I don’t remember the last time The Claw has scored under 30 points in a game. In three victories this week, including an amazing comeback against the reigning NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers, Leonard averaged 36.3 points, good for 2nd in the NBA, on 56.5% from the field, 43.8% from deep, 96% from the line. And this was a guy who couldn’t shoot when he got drafted. Leonard added 7 boards, and nearly 5 assists a night. He does all this whilst locking up the opponent’s best player night in and night out.
Kawhi and Lebron is my favorite rivalry in the NBA that nobody seems to talk about. Both of them show up every time they play each other ever since Kawhi broke out by locking Lebron down en route to the 2014 NBA Finals MVP.
If it were any other year, Kawhi Leonard would be running away with the MVP.
Karl-Anthony Towns:
The Big KAT is rolling. The TimberPups were 2-1 this week, including a 7 point loss to the Spurs during which Minnesota was winning for large stretches of the game. Towns put up gaudy numbers this week: 32 points a night, good for third in the NBA this week, on 65.6% from the floor, 75% from deep (take that with a grain of salt as he only averaged 1.3 triples a night), and 86.7% from the line. He chipped in 13.3 rebounds a night, good for sixth in the NBA, and added nearly 2 blocks a game in addition to 4 assists a game.
We all may have expected too much too soon from the youngest roster in the league when they hired Tom Thibedeau over the summer, but Minnesota is starting to take shape out West, and Towns is at the center of that.
Rudy Gobert:
The Stifle Tower is having a breakout campaign to remember. The Jazz went 3-0 for the second straight week, and Rudy Gobert and Gordon Hayward are Utah’s Batman and Robin. Gobert nearly averaged a 20 20 for the week, behind 21 points on 71% from the floor and a league leading 17.7 rebounds a night, in addition to 2.3 blocks a game, which was good for 5th in the NBA this week.
Honorable Mentions
Eric Bledsoe: The Suns point guard put up a great 29 point and 9.5 assist line this week, but the Suns still aren’t very good and went 2-2.
Isaiah Thomas: The Little Giant led the league in scoring at 38.3 a game, but the Celtics went 1-2 in a disappointing week for the 3 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Joel Embiid: Philadelphia is the feel good story of the week, as the 76ers went undefeated at 3-0 for the week. Embiid averaged 22 points, 10.3 rebounds, and a league-leading 3.7 blocks a contest for the week, on only 25.6 minutes a game. Per 36 minutes, which a lot of the guys on the above list played, that translates to: 30.9 points, 14.5 rebounds, and 5.2 blocks. Trust the Process, man.
More from Thunderous Intentions
Tyson Chandler: Again, the Suns are really bad, but Chandler turned back the clock en route to a 15.7 point and 13.7 rebound – double-double for the week.
John Wall: Yet another All-Star snub, John Wall led the Wizards to a 3-1 week behind 24.3 points and a league leading 10.8 assists a night. He also played some good defense this week behind 2.3 steals a night. He’s a highlight waiting to happen.
Nikola Jokic: The Joker (top-5 NBA nickname right now), is doing a little bit of everything for the Denver Nuggets, and the hype is a Mile High. I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself. Anyway, Jokic averaged 26 points on 61.8% from the floor, 11.2 rebounds (good for 9th in the NBA), 3 assists, a steal, and a block a game.
Draymond Green: I don’t like it either, but the Warriors are rolling right now, and Green is a huge reason as to why. He anchors them on defense, this week was no different, as his 2.8 blocks a game were 2nd in the NBA. He averaged 6.8 assists a game, 10.5 rebounds, and 11 points as the fourth option on the potent Golden State Warriors.
Weekly Awards
6th Man of the Week
Tyler Johnson: Before coming down with a shoulder injury, Johnson had a great week for the Miami Heat, putting up 19.5 points on 43.3% from the field and 50% from deep in 30 minutes a night.
Highlight(s) of the Week
Two ridiculous buzzer beaters tie for the Highlight of the Week. First, Steph Curry against the Cavs:
Next, an extremely unlikely three point buzzer beater from 3/4 court by Andre Drummond of all people:
Clutch Performance of the Week
Kawhi Leonard put up a career high 41 points in an overtime victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Defensive Play of the Week
Sorry, Tamberlyn, but the Sixers block party on Kyle Lowry to seal a 76er’s victory over the Toronto Raptors:
Team(s) of the Week
Golden State and San Antonio Spurs
Golden State went 4-0 and the Spurs went 3-0 this week, both teams also beat a reeling Cleveland Cavaliers.
That wraps up week 4 of the Rich List. Check back next week when I’m sure there will be All-Star Reserve selections and snubs to discuss.
