Russell Westbrook is the epitome of hard work

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What Russell Westbrook is doing right now hasn’t been done since Oscar Robertson in the 1961-1962 season. He’s making averaging a triple-double a usual thing, simply making it look easy.

Russell Westbrook's avgs
A comparison between Oscar Robertson’s triple-double season and Russell Westbrook this season.

20 games in, Westbrook has the world checking in on his stats on a nightly basis. And what’s remarkable about what he’s doing is that he’s only playing 35 minutes a night and in a lot of these games, he has his triple-double by the third quarter. He has led the Thunder to a 12-8 start which isn’t bad given the loss of Kevin Durant during the off-season.

Many have questioned if this style of play is sustainable. given all of the effort he’s putting out on a nightly basis and how hard he plays. My opinion is that it’s definitely sustainable because as long as Russell Westbrook is out on the floor, he’s going to give it all that he’s got! Some may attribute this statistical success to talent and some to athleticism, but what I attribute it to is hard work. Ever since entering the league, he has played with this tenacity. Some labeled his style of play as selfish and a detriment to his team, but as we see now, it’s paying off and turning into numbers that haven’t been accomplished in about 50 years.

Everyone doesn’t have athleticism but what everyone does have is the ability to go out on the floor and play hard. That’s simply what Russell Westbrook is doing right now. When I watched the Oklahoma City Thunder take on the New York Knicks on Monday night, there was a play that stuck out to a lot of people, including myself that took social media by storm.

This play proved to me that Russell Westbrook is competing on a different level and giving it all that he has to help his team win. This type of determination and fight is what you want to show kids at a young age looking to make it big one day. These type of plays stand out to coaches and scouts all across the world. Yes, athleticism contributed to Russell getting that rebound but what sticks out the most is the fact that he didn’t give up and that he went after it.

You can coach talent and teach fundamentals but you cannot teach hard work. That’s a trait that has to come from within and you have to want it yourself. Russell Westbrook is playing out of his mind right now and a lot of that has to do with his determination and hard work that he displays every second he’s out on the floor.

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