Russell Westbrook missed 14 games with a broken hand and another with a broken face.
But when he's been on the court, you can't take your eyes off him.
If Stephen Curry is smooth and James Harden is dependable, Oklahoma City guard Russell Westbrook is in-your-face and aggressive, speed metal and Mountain Dew. Westbrook is the opposite of yoga. Don't relax.
Westbrook is the MVP this season, not because of what he's done, but because of what he's done while Kevin Durant has been out.
Curry has help. Harden has history, Westbrook has skill and want-to and desire and is part assassin and all emotion. But Westbrook didn't have any warning this season would be the way it is.
Unlike Curry and Harden, Westbrook didn't know the part he would be playing this season. We all knew what Golden State had and who Harden was, but until Durant went out with a series of foot and ankle injuries, Westbrook and the rest of the people in Thunder blue and white didn't know what to expect. In Oklahoma City, everyone's role has changed, most notably Westbrook's, who has gone from sidekick to leading man.
What Westbrook has given and what the Thunder have received is a confluence of numbers and history, with comparisons to the greatest in the game. What we've seen is something you don't want to turn away from.
With a bulk of the team, at one time or another, led by Durant, wearing suits and ties on the bench, instead of Thunder uniforms, Westbrook has kept Oklahoma City in the playoff picture in the rugged Western Conference. In spite of the injuries, Westbrook has led -- no carried -- OKC to the No. 8 spot in the conference with numbers and stats good enough for Springfield.
He's leading the league in scoring, getting more than 27 points per game -- more than Harden, Curry and even LeBron James. At 8.6 assists per game, Westbrook is fourth in the league, averaging more than Harden, Curry and James. At 7.2 rebounds, Westbrook is averaging more than Harden and Curry, and yes, James, too. More than 2.0 steals per game which is good for second in the league, trailing just Kawhi Leonard of San Antonio.
So good this season, Kevin Love, teammate of LeBron James said Westbrook should be the season's MVP. So good, Larry Bird said the same. So prolific, Westbrook is on the level to have a season only three others in the history of game have had. Only Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan and James have averaged what Westbrook is averaging.
But that's history. Current events show Westbrook doing it this season, ahead of Curry and Harden.
Ten triple-doubles in 2014-15. Only Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson, Bird, Grant Hill, Jason Kidd, Jordan and Fat Lever have had 10 in a season.
But just eighth in the Western Conference? That's your argument against Westbrook? Well, how bout eighth because of Westbrook?
The Thunder haven't just lost Durant for the regular season, they're down their best defensive player, too in Serge Ibaka. The Thunder also traded away sixth man Reggie Jackson and no one on the roster has played every game this season. That's injuries to Nick Collison and Anthony Morrow. Injuries to Mitch McGary as well as new additions Enes Kanter and even Steve Novak.
Nothing has been constant for the Thunder except for Westbrook. A lost season, by all accounts, is having the reigning MVP play just 27 games in a season where the Thunder should have been competing for the top seed in the West. A lost season is struggling for eighth when this team should have been talking title.
But this season has not been lost because Westbrook has saved it. You've seen it. It's not like you can look away.
Follow Andrew Gilman on Twitter: @andrewgilmanOK
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