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Friday, April 23, 2021

Westbrook is Within Reach of the Career Triple Double Record

Tonight Russell Westbrook notched his 174th career triple double as he led the Washington Wizards in scoring (37 points), rebounds (11), and assists (11) in a 129-109 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Per Stat Muse, Westbrook has notched 10 triple doubles in his last 11 games, averaging 23/14/13 on 46 FG% (he was one assist short of a triple double in the other game) as the Wizards went 9-2 to vault into contention for one of the play-in games. Westbrook is averaging a triple double for the fourth time in the past five seasons (Oscar Robertson is the only other player in pro basketball history to accomplish that feat even once) while on pace to set career-highs in rebounding and assists. The two-time assists champion is also currently leading the league in assists. If Westbrook captures a third assist crown he will tie Rajon Rondo on the all-time list, and trail only John Stockton (nine assist titles), Bob Cousy (eight), Robertson (six), Jason Kidd (five), Steve Nash (five), Magic Johnson (four), Chris Paul (four), and Kevin Porter (four). Remember when the critics said that Westbrook was a selfish gunner who could never be an elite NBA point guard or playmaker?

Oscar Robertson has held the career triple double record for well over 40 years. Until Westbrook, no player came close to matching Robertson's total of 181 triple doubles; the distance between Robertson and Magic Johnson--who was second on the career list for over 20 years before Westbrook surpassed him--was 43 triple doubles, which would rank 10th all-time! Westbrook has nearly as many career triple doubles as LeBron James (99) and Wilt Chamberlain (77) combined. James and Chamberlain rank fifth and sixth all-time respectively. The Wizards have 13 remaining games, so Westbrook "only" has to have a triple double in seven of them to tie a record that seemed unbreakable for most of pro basketball history.

If triple doubles matter--and we have been told for decades that they do--then Westbrook is indisputably one of the greatest all-around players of all-time. It does not make sense to act like only Westbrook's triple doubles are meaningless or "stat padding."

Westbrook did not make the 2021 All-Star team, and it does not appear that he will receive much consideration for the All-NBA Team, let alone the MVP award. Someone objectively looking back on this season 20 years from now will be puzzled that a former MVP who led the league in assists while averaging a triple double and (possibly) setting the career triple double record was completely ignored in the awards voting. The MVP selection criteria are not consistently applied, to say the least. Stephen Curry's Golden State Warriors are struggling to qualify for the play-in games in the Western Conference but he has proclaimed himself to be the MVP and many media members agree that he should at least be in the top five, if not the top three. It sure would be interesting if Westbrook and Curry faced each other head to head right now while Curry is on a record-setting scoring streak and Westbrook is on a record-setting triple double streak. Oh, wait--they did face each other. Let's look at the statistics:

Wizards 118, Warriors 114

Westbrook 14 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists, 5-17 field goal shooting, nine turnovers +9 

Curry 18 points, seven rebounds, eight assists, 7-25 field goal shooting, six turnovers, -21

Westbrook was the primary defender on Curry. Neither player shot well, but Westbrook can impact the game in multiple ways even if he does not shoot well, and by holding the league's hottest shooter to 18 points on .280 field goal shooting Westbrook would have been the player of the game even if he had not rebounded like Wilt Chamberlain while passing like Magic Johnson.

Nikola Jokic or Giannis Antetokounmpo should win the MVP award this season, as they have been the two most productive and consistent players, and both of their teams rank near the top of their conferences. That being said, if Curry is going to be praised for scoring a lot of points for a mediocre team that may not even qualify for the play-in games then Westbrook should get an equal amount of praise for racking up triple doubles for a similarly situated team.

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posted by David Friedman @ 11:59 PM

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Thursday, April 22, 2021

My Second Appearance on Benbo's Podcast: The Chosen Game, Coaching Philosophies, MVP Criteria, Interviewing Techniques, and More

I recently made my second appearance on Benbo's podcast, hosted by Dr. James Ben Guest. Our wide-ranging conversation began with sharing our thoughts about Charley Rosen's book The Chosen Game, which describes the influence that Jewish players and coaches had on the development of basketball in the early 20th century. 

Then, we talked about many other subjects, including coaching philosophies (from Nat Holman to Red Holzman to Phil Jackson, with digressions about Larry Brown and Vince Lombardi), MVP selection criteria, and my experiences interviewing various players--including Green Bay's two-time Super Bowl champion safety Tom Brown (who also played outfield and first base for the Washington Senators), six-time NBA champion Scottie Pippen, and 1971 NBA champion Oscar Robertson. 

I compared my approach to interviews with the way that some media members slant their coverage based on a person's availability/affability; for example, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar declined to do an interview with me, but that did not change my opinion that he is one of the most underrated great players in pro basketball history.

I also discussed the importance of using one's platform and talents to maximum effect. I have used this website and other platforms to speak out about the NBA's disgraceful treatment of the "Pre-65ers" and also on behalf of underrated individuals such as Artis Gilmore, Mel Daniels, Roger Brown, and Slick Leonard, who each were eventually, belatedly inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. I don't know how much influence my writing had on helping those ABA legends obtain the recognition that they deserve, but the point is that I used my voice to call attention to their greatness. It is disappointing that many people who have been blessed with large platforms/audiences squander the opportunity to, as the saying goes, comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

Here is the link to the podcast: Jews, Immigration, and Basketball.

Here is the link to my first appearance on Benbo's podcast: Interview with David Friedman: Great Sportswriting is Great Writing.

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posted by David Friedman @ 7:40 PM

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Tuesday, April 20, 2021

MVP Selection Criteria

The NBA has deliberately never published a specific set of criteria for selecting the regular season Most Valuable Player award. The league long ago determined that the controversy and conversation that almost annually surrounds the selection process is good for business. A few unwritten rules have gained general acceptance, most notably that the MVP should participate in the vast majority of the season's games, and that the MVP's team should finish in the top four in its conference. 

If one accepts the notion that the NBA's MVP should participate in at least 85% of the regular season games (70 games in an 82 game season, or 61 games in the 72 game season that the NBA is using in 2020-21), then LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, Kawhi Leonard, and James Harden are among the players who are disqualified from consideration for this year's MVP. Two-time reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has played in 48 of Milwaukee's 57 games, needs to play in 13 of his team's 15 remaining games to not fall below the 85% participation threshold. 

Nikola Jokic (26.4 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 8.1 apg, .569 FG%) has performed so well while playing in all 57 games for the fourth seeded Denver Nuggets that he might be the top candidate even if most of the other top candidates had not disqualified themselves by missing so many games. All factors considered and weighted appropriately, Antetokounmpo (28.5 ppg, 11.2 rpg, 6.0 apg, .564 FG% for the third seeded Milwaukee Bucks) is the only player this season who is competing with Jokic for the MVP award.

The NBA first selected an MVP after the 1956 season. The only NBA regular season MVP who did not participate in at least 85% of his team's games (including the 2020, 2012, and 1999 seasons that did not last the full 82 games, and the 1956-67 seasons when the NBA schedule gradually increased from 72 to 81 games) was Bill Walton, who played in 58 out of 82 games in 1977-78. Walton led Portland to the 1977 NBA title, and the 1978 Trail Blazers went 48-10 with Walton compared to 10-14 without him. Walton was so dominant during the 1976-78 period that the voters rewarded him for his impact on his team and the league despite how many games he missed during his MVP campaign.

Another unwritten rule for MVP voting is that the winner's team should rank among the top four teams in his conference. In 1982, Moses Malone won the regular season MVP while playing for a Houston squad that finished 46-36, tied for fifth-sixth place in the Western Conference. Malone had carried the Rockets to the NBA Finals in 1981, and he had previously won the MVP for the 47-35 Rockets in 1979. Malone won his third and final MVP in 1983 after teaming up with 1981 MVP Julius Erving to lead the 76ers to a league-best 65-17 record (and the 76ers subsequently set the all-time playoff mark by going 12-1 en route to winning the title). Like Walton a few years earlier, Malone was such a dominant player that in 1982 he overcame the voters' usual reluctance to support players from mediocre teams.

Russell Westbrook, whose 2017 Oklahoma City Thunder finished sixth in the Western Conference, is the only exception to that "rule" since 1982, and Westbrook overcame the "rule" by becoming the only player other than Oscar Robertson to average a triple double for an entire season, a feat that Westbrook accomplished in each of the next two seasons before "slumping" to 27.2 ppg, 7.9 rpg, and 7.0 apg last season (during which he adjusted to playing for a new team while also suffering various injuries and overcoming a bout with COVID-19).

This season, Westbrook is averaging 21.8 ppg, 10.9 apg, and 10.9 rpg. He is on the verge of averaging a triple double for the fourth season in a five season span. Robertson averaged an aggregate triple double over a five season span, but he had just one season in which he averaged a triple double. No other player has come close to averaging a triple double for a season. Triple doubles are often used as a benchmark to praise the versatility of players ranging from LeBron James to Nikola Jokic, but somehow Westbrook--whose 172 career triple doubles are just nine short of Robertson's record of 181--is now ignored when the subject of the league's best all-around player is discussed. Westbrook did not make the All-Star team this season (snapping a streak of six straight selections), and it seems unlikely that he will receive much consideration for the All-NBA Team or the MVP. Westbrook's Washington Wizards, who have endured a staggering number of injuries and games missed due to health/safety protocols, are currently tied for 10th place in the Eastern Conference; the seventh through 10th place teams will participate in play-in games to determine the seventh and eighth playoff seeds. The Wizards have a losing record, but they have won five games in a row and seven of their last eight. During that eight game span, Westbrook has posted these numbers:

Westbrook had a positive plus/minus number in all seven wins, and his plus/minus number in the loss (-21) was less than the margin of defeat (28). In 11 games during April, Westbrook is averaging 21.6 ppg, 13.4 rpg, and 12.1 apg.

Westbrook has participated in 50 out of the Wizards' 57 games, so he is on pace to play in more than 85% of the schedule. The only possible reason that he is not touted as an MVP candidate is the Wizards' record. However, Stephen Curry is receiving endless praise for his recent scoring feats and three point shooting barrage. Curry is without question a great player and a great shooter. He has played in 50 of the Warriors' 58 games, so he is on track to meet the unwritten participation requirement for MVP candidates. Curry's Golden State Warriors are in ninth place in the Western Conference, but their .500 record places them in a virtual tie with the 10th place team that has played two fewer games so far. 

In other words, for all of the talk about Curry's value, impact, and "gravity," he is the best player on a .500 team that is fighting to get into the play-in games.

Why is Westbrook's unprecedented all-around dominance not being as highly praised and prominently recognized as Curry's scoring and shooting feats? Westbrook's team is essentially at the same place in the East that Curry's team is in the West. The Wizards have not been a playoff team since 2018, so Westbrook is trying to turn around a losing team with a losing culture; in contrast, the Warriors have two starters (Curry and Draymond Green) from their teams that won three titles while making five straight Finals appearances, plus they have the same coach, and they have two other rotation players (Kevon Looney, Damion Lee) from their 2019 squad that reached the NBA Finals. Kelly Oubre is a proven scorer (18.7 ppg last season prior to joining Golden State), Andrew Wiggins is a former number one overall draft pick with a 19.5 ppg career scoring average, and James Wiseman is the second overall pick in the 2020 draft. The Warriors have more talent than the Wizards, but the popular narrative is that Curry is some kind of miracle worker while Westbrook is supposedly having a disappointing season.

For historical context, it is worth noting that the Warriors have way more talent than the Lakers had when Kobe Bryant carried the Lakers to the sixth best record in the West in 2006. The play-in format did not exist in 2006, but Bryant's Lakers did not need any help to qualify for postseason play. Bryant led the league in scoring (35.4 ppg, the highest scoring average since Michael Jordan averaged 37.1 ppg in 1986-87). The Lakers' second best player in 2006, Lamar Odom, never made an All-Star team, and would not have started for at least six of the other seven Western Conference playoff team that season (the other seven starting forwards for Western Conference playoff teams in 2006 were Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan, Shawn Marion, Pau Gasol, Elton Brand, Kenyon Martin, and Kenny Thomas/Shareef Abdur-Rahim for the Kings, with the eighth place Kings being the only other West playoff team for which Odom would have started). After Bryant and Odom, the 2006 Lakers who played the most minutes were Smush Parker, Kwame Brown, and Chris Mihm. I am not convinced that Michael Jordan could carry that squad to a playoff berth (and you can forget about Curry or Westbrook doing so); Jordan's sub-.500 1987 Bulls included Charles Oakley, John Paxson, Gene Banks, Dave Corzine, and Earl Cureton in the main rotation, and each of those players had long and solid careers. Bryant is the only 2006 Laker who would have started for the 1987 Bulls, and not many of the 2006 Lakers would have made that squad as backups (Smush Parker is not beating out Sedale Threatt or Steve Colter, to cite just one example).

Bryant finished fourth in the 2006 MVP voting; he received the second most first place votes, but many voters left him entirely off of their ballots (i.e., they did not consider him a top five player that season). Jordan finished second in the 1987 MVP voting; his Chicago Bulls finished 40-42, while 1987 MVP winner Magic Johnson led the L.A. Lakers to a 65-17 record (Johnson later won the Finals MVP after the Lakers captured the NBA title). 

It is interesting that Jordan in 1987 and Curry in 2021 are talked about as legitimate MVP candidates, while Bryant in 2006 and Westbrook in 2021 are criticized for their supposed shortcomings as opposed to being praised for leading their teams to at least the same level of success as Jordan and Curry. I agree with the unwritten rule that an MVP candidate must play in the vast majority of his team's games--a player who missed too many games is of limited value no matter how well he played when he was available--but the inconsistent standards regarding outstanding players on mediocre teams is puzzling.

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posted by David Friedman @ 5:48 PM

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