Skip Bayless is most notorious for his constant criticisms of LeBron James, a trope that he now struggles to convincingly pull off as James continues to dominate at 40 years old. The longtime sports personality has continued to be critical of other future Hall of Famers. Unlike LeBron, who remains a top talent in the league, though, Russell Westbrook’s game hasn’t aged nearly as gracefully, even though he played a big role in the Denver Nuggets’ first round series win.
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Similar to his problems with LeBron, Skip’s beef with Westbrook dates back more than a decade. Bayless recalled that he was never fully confident in Oklahoma City’s 2012 Finals team because of Russ’ unpredictability, a trait that has stayed with him throughout his career.
Skip acknowledged Russ would be a first-ballot selection to the Hall and praised him for accomplishing a feat he never expected to happen again when he averaged a triple-double. But Skip’s praise ended there. Crediting himself as the originator of the nickname “Westbrick”, Bayless has never been able to fully appreciate the former MVP’s greatness because of his obvious downfalls.
“That’s why I nicknamed him Westbrick back in 2012. And that’s why when we showed his almost daily montages of comical turnovers on television, we often put clown music over the video packages,” Skip said. “Just pure comedy. Sad comedy.” Even without a ring, though, Skip doesn’t think Westbrook will have any problem getting into the Hall.
The 73-year-old continued to dish out backhanded compliments to the Nuggets guard, unable to credit Russ without a disclaimer. “Best six-foot-three-inch rebounder ever. Just an explosively athletic terror of a rebounder, especially offensive rebounder. But he’s also as egomaniacal as any player ever. Always driven more to stat and to star than to make winning plays.”
Bayless continued to point out Westbrook’s pseudo-selfish instincts while on the court. Skip acknowledged Russ’ unmatched energy multiple times but claimed “he’s played hard for Russ.” Skip even shared his belief that Westbrook would “selfishly” feed his teammates in hopes of boosting his own assist numbers.
“[Westbrook] wasn’t a big assist guy to start with, but he learned ‘If I drive it, just crazy drive it, get to the rack, and then just leave it on the floor for one of my bigs, and they dunk it, I get one in the assist column’ … So he was achieving triple-doubles by launching himself for rebounds and leaving balls on the floor for bigs to dunk to achieve all-time fame as a triple-double artist,” Skip continued.
Those triple-doubles didn’t lead to playoff wins either, as Skip pointed out. The Thunder lost in the opening round in each season Russ averaged his gaudy numbers, combining to win just five of 21 playoff matchups. Still, playoff wins are more of a sign of great teams, not just great players. Ever since Kevin Durant left, Russ has been stuck on largely bad teams.
Skip brought down some harsh criticism for a player he believes is a surefire Hall of Famer, but he also brought up valid reasons to detract from what has been a memorable career. Still, more people would likely accept these criticisms if they didn’t come from Bayless, who has been known to care more about a narrative than real life performances and has been looking for new targets.
Russell Westbrook will long be regarded as one of the most electric playmakers and scoring guards in the NBA, but his lack of team success, even with Kevin Durant and Paul George, will ultimately overshadow his achievements.
