It’s the lead singer who can’t always hit the high notes anymore, but keeps pulling anyway. Russell Westbrook is perhaps the most average player for whom, among fans, there is almost no middle ground.
When Russ is good, he will send you to heaven. When he’s bad, he sends you to the liquor cellar.
“He played a little too much hero ball,” Westminster’s Simon Sawaqed told me Monday, wearing a blue Westbrook Nuggets jersey, as Denver beat Russ’s Sacramento Kings 130-124. “But I loved him for that, you know?
“That’s what he does. And I really appreciate his time here. He’s my favorite player, I think, that I’ve ever played – him or LeBron (James). And the fact that he was able to come here and play for us, it’s a blessing.”
A mixed situation though. For every Clippers series, there was a moment in Minnesota. Westbrook lit up Ball Arena for 26 points, 12 rebounds and six assists Monday night. And the Nuggets are still better off without him.
Check that out.
They are better without each other.
Russ is a leader. The Nuggets needed better bass players. Westbrook needs a team that will allow him to shoot, run the show, dictate space and pace. Denver already has at least two of these guys.
Although quite funny, Russ often played brilliantly with Nikola Jokic, his triple-double brother, when given the opportunity. He did, however, look less than stellar playing with Julian Strawther and Hunter Tyson, which was one of the main reasons he was signed in the first place. Westbrook couldn’t elevate the second unit last season the same way the Joker elevates everything he touches.
Russ, who turns 37 on November 12, is an agent of chaos. An improviser, a jazzer who needs space for long solos that could turn into Mars.
The Nuggets needed order. Someone who plays the notes exactly as they are written.
“The truth is, they didn’t want me to come back,” Westbrook told a group of reporters Monday night as we huddled in a corner of the Kings locker room. “It’s not up to me.”
And the player option?
“They told me not to (sign him),” Russ responded. “I’m not going anywhere where I’m not wanted. I don’t need to.”
Westbrook averaged 13.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 6.1 assists last season. It wasn’t his fault the Nuggets didn’t win a title. But this list needed something else. It’s not his fault Michael Malone got fired. But he didn’t really help a troubled front office.
As a cutter, finisher and facilitator, Russ can still rip the roof off any building in the NBA. However, it is Wade Davis, late in the period. Wade Davis of the Rockies.
Per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com, Russ averaged 24.9 points, 8.7 rebounds and 8.9 assists on 20.4 shot attempts during the fourth quarter of the 2024-25 regular season. He also shot 36.1% from beyond the arc, turned it over 4.4 times per 100 possessions and posted a plus/minus of -1.5 per period.
Compare that to, say, Bruce Brown, who is now taking up a good chunk of Russ’ old minutes. In the fourth quarter of the season, Brown is averaging 15.5 points, 12.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists on 11.3 shot attempts per 100 possessions. He’s also making triples at a 50% rate, averaging about half the turnovers (2.8) as Russ did in the fourth quarter, while posting a plus/minus for the period of plus-1.4.
Westbrook’s clutch splits, according to NBA.com, paint the same picture. Russ with the Nuggets: 116.2 defensive rating, minus-0.6 net rating. Brucey B this regular season: Defensive rating of 112.7 (the lower the better) with a net rating of plus-10.1.
“Yes, there were times,” Sawaqed admitted. “But everyone has to make mistakes…but still, I’m proud of him.”
“I don’t care if he doesn’t have a ring. He’s the best, funniest player anyone’s ever seen on television. You’ll never see another man like him.”
Amen to that. It’s… well… it’s complicated, isn’t it? Jokic came out during the pregame layup lines to wrap Russ in a huge bear hug, and the pair buttered him up for several minutes. Peyton Watson and Aaron Gordon hugged Westbrook just before tip-off. You don’t fake that kind of love.
When the Kings signed Russ, Kings rookie and former CSU star Nique Clifford was so thrilled that he sent a message to his father, Akai, as soon as possible.
“I feel like I can learn a lot from him,” Nique told his father.
“He was excited,” Akai recalled Monday night. “Of course you have the chance to work with a future Hall of Famer, but you also have the opportunity to work with someone who can teach you a lot of things.”
Since then, Clifford has been picking Westbrook’s brain.
“(Nique said) he brought a lot of energy, but also the leadership he brought,” Akai continued. “He’s talkative and he teaches. He really brings a different aspect to the team that they already had a little bit of – but he just took it to the next level. So he really, really enjoys having Russ on the team.”
As for the Nuggets, that depends on who you ask. They certainly gave him a classy welcome, releasing a video tribute during the first break that came across as heartfelt and appreciative.
“Thank you for your leadership,” AP announcer Kyle Speller said into the microphone, “and for your time in the Denver community.”
Russ waved quickly. Ball Arena collectively rose to its feet to a standing ovation.
“He deserved it,” Julie Craig of Highlands Ranch, wearing another of those Westbrook jerseys at the Ball Monday, given away during the game. “He’s scrappy…he contributed a lot. It’s not his fault we didn’t win this championship.”
And it’s not his fault he didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to the Nuggets faithful.
“If you could,” I asked Westbrook, “what would you tell them?”
“Just, ‘Thank you,'” Russ replied. “Always.
“But I’m grateful for the energy. It’s helped me get through a lot of nights here, a lot of games. And so, I appreciate them a lot.”
He’ll be fine. The Kings could use a leader. As for where the Nuggets should go, as Oklahoma City taught us last year, it’s all about that bass.
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