Russell Recordbrook All-time Ranking?

[StrongLurk]

This dude is easily the hardest to judge player of this decade. Has a lot of flaws to go with his amazing ability. And yet when you really think about it, isn't Russell Westbrook at least a top 50 player of all time? I never really thought about his all time rankings until now, and look at his accomplishments.

Triple-Double all time record holder
1 MVP
2 scoring titles
3 assist titles
9 all-nba teams (will probably 10 after this year).
Plenty of great playoff runs

When you think about it, he's kind of like the Allen Iverson of the 2010's when it comes to being a very polarizing player on the court but has so much heart that you can't measure it.

[coastalmarker99]

This dude is easily the hardest to judge player of this decade. Has a lot of flaws to go with his amazing ability. And yet when you really think about it, isn't Russell Westbrook at least a top 50 player of all time? I never really thought about his all-time rankings until now, and look at his accomplishments.

Triple-Double all-time record holder
1 MVP
2 scoring titles
3 assist titles
9 all-NBA teams (will probably 10 after this year).
Plenty of great playoff runs

When you think about it, he's kind of like the Allen Iverson of the 2010s when it comes to being a very polarizing player on the court but has so much heart that you can't measure it.


Yes Russell Westbrook is at least a top 50 player of all time as he has many records to his name plus a regular-season Mvp


the only negative thing about him is his terrible performances in the playoffs and his stat-padding ways.

[Marchesk]

Yeah, you have to put him in the top 50 with those numbers and being a star on a contending Thunder team for years. It gets tricky when you get to the top 30 though. Who should he be in front of or behind? How do you rate Westbrook's impact versus Pippen, Pierce or Wade? Do you rank Harden and Durant over him all-time? What about CP3?

[Marchesk]

Yes Russell Westbrook is at least a top 50 player of all time as he has many records to his name plus a regular-season Mvp


the only negative thing about him is his terrible performances in the playoffs and his stat-padding ways.

Would your rank above or below Drexler?

[Marchesk]

The Bleacher Report in 2019 had Westbrook at #36, but there list is no doubt controversial:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2854727-bleacher-reports-all-time-player-rankings-nbas-top-50-revealed

[coastalmarker99]

Would your rank above or below Drexler?



I would personally rank Russell over Drexler due to his Mvp and 2 scoring titles plus 3 assist titles and 9 All-NBA teams along with the triple-double record.


I think Russell would have been a monster in the 1990s with his sheer athleticism at the point guard position as he would have physically murdered Mark price and the other point guards of that era with his incredible strength stamina speed and jumping ability.




And on another note, Drexler himself was not that great in the playoffs as well.

[1987_Lakers]

He is the Iverson of this era. All-time great talent, but style of play doesn't blend well with teammates and doesn't produce much team success.

[dankok8]

He's not top 50 IMO. I'm not sure I could remove anyone from the 1997 top 50 list to put him in plus there are many many players since 1997 that are easily ranked over Westbrook. People forget now but his MVP was rather controversial too. People got pumped about the triple double but his team only won 47 games. His scoring efficiency was around league average and he had insanely high turnover rates and it only got worse in the playoffs. And these were trends throughout his career and a result of poor decision making which is a death knell for a PG.

I think he should make the top 75 list coming out in 2022 though.

[coastalmarker99]

He's not top 50 IMO. I'm not sure I could remove anyone from the 1997 top 50 list to put him in plus there are many many players since 1997 that are easily ranked over Westbrook. People forget now but his MVP was rather controversial too. People got pumped about the triple double but his team only won 47 games. His scoring efficiency was around league average and he had insanely high turnover rates and it only got worse in the playoffs. And these were trends throughout his career and a result of poor decision making which is a death knell for a PG.

I think he should make the top 75 list coming out in 2022 though.



His video game stats in the modern era along with his Mvp and 2 scoring titles plus 3 assist titles and 10 all Nba teams ensure that he is bar none a top 50 player of all time.




And on another note I would remove Bill Bradley and Bill Sharman to put Westbrook on the 50 greatest players list

[L.Kizzle]

Would your rank above or below Drexler?
Same tier.
Any other player have multiple scoring titles and assist titles and MVP award?

[coastalmarker99]

Same tier.
Any other player have multiple scoring titles and assist titles and MVP award?


Wilt is the only player that I can think of as he did it in his career with rebounding scoring and assisting still it is an incredible feat by Westbrook to pull off what he has done in the last couple of years.

[Marchesk]

People got pumped about the triple double but his team only won 47 games. His scoring efficiency was around league average and he had insanely high turnover rates and it only got worse in the playoffs.

This is why it's so hard to know where to rank him. But Kareem had an MVP season for a losing Laker's team, and Kobe averaged 35 for a 45 win team. Would the Thunder have won more games that year without Durant if Westbrook's usage rate wasn't so high?

[L.Kizzle]

Wilt is the only player that I can think of as he did it in his career with rebounding scoring and assisting still it is an incredible feat by Westbrook to pull off what he has done in the last couple of years.

Other players besides Wilt have multiple scoring and rebounding titles (I think.)
Westbrook is only one with multiple scoring and assist titles. Oscar, Tiny and Harden have done it once.

[ImKobe]

top 40

[dankok8]

His video game stats in the modern era along with his Mvp and 2 scoring titles plus 3 assist titles and 10 all Nba teams ensure that he is bar none a top 50 player of all time.




And on another note I would remove Bill Bradley and Bill Sharman to put Westbrook on the 50 greatest players list

His numbers in the playoffs were garbage post Durant:

2017-2019: 29.8 ppg, 10.9 rpg, 9.5 apg, 1.6 spg, 0.3 bpg on 49.3 %TS (-6.3 rTS) with 5.3 topg

Shooting 6.3% below league average is just abysmal. You will hardly find another star in any era doing that over 3 postseasons. And then there is the 5.3 turnovers per game. Being a bad defender is just a cherry on top.

For comparison here is Sixers Iverson in the playoffs who is often considered the definition of inefficient:

2001-2005: 32.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 6.7 apg, 2.4 spg, 0.2 bpg on 49.7 %TS (-2.5 rTS) with 3.3 topg

Iverson's efficiency numbers are way better. Make of it what you will. And of course Iverson led his teams to way more success. Maybe because he actually played under control and made proper decisions with the basketball. What a PG should do...

If you take Westbrook over Bill Bradley which I can agree with what about the horde of players better than Westbrook since 1997? Like I said he's top 75 but not top 50. Or guys like Dominique or McAdoo that didn't make the top 50 in 1997 IIRC but are arguably better than Westbrook.


This is why it's so hard to know where to rank him. But Kareem had an MVP season for a losing Laker's team, and Kobe averaged 35 for a 45 win team. Would the Thunder have won more games that year without Durant if Westbrook's usage rate wasn't so high?

Well.. the Thunder did about the same with a past prime CP3.

[iamgine]

I'd say he's top 50 based on accomplishment but not even top 100 based on building a championship team.

[L.Kizzle]

I'd say he's top 50 based on accomplishment but not even top 100 based on building a championship team.

You can say the same about half the top 50.
George Gervin and Pistol Pete not gonna get you a chip but they're gonna score a lot and look good doing it.

[iamgine]

You can say the same about half the top 50.
George Gervin and Pistol Pete not gonna get you a chip but they're gonna score a lot and look good doing it.

I dunno about half but I agree there are some others.

[PeroAntic]

Right behind DRose.

:pimp:

[John8204]

70's, honestly if he wasn't on the top 75 list I would be surprised but I could see a case for others that didn't make the list.

[Gohan]

Westbrook isnt half the player that iverson was. Iverson was much better iverson is a top 10 player while westbrook might be top 65