Westbrook's Herculean Effort
The story of Russell Westbrook averaging a triple double for a season is played out now.
Sure, at the time of this writing he is averaging 31.3 points, 10.8 assists, 10.5 rebounds, and looks like he will accomplish the legendary feat. But even Westbrook himself has made it clear that he doesn't care. He is perhaps being a bit dramatic here, but it is not unbelievable that-in classic Kobe Bryant fashion-Westbrook really does care more about proving that he can lead a winning team in the Western Conference without (new) nemesis Kevin Durant.
That is where the numbers become important.
Usage Percentage is an advanced statistic that is is an estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while he was on the floor.
It is a great tool when looking for certain things, specifically who a team is running their offense through. It is no shock that Billy Donovan runs most of the Thunder's offense through Westbrook.
However, when I saw Westbrook's current usage rate at 41.9%. I was astonished.
If I asked the average basketball fan what NBA player had the highest single season usage rate , I would probably get answers like Allen Iverson, Michael Jordan, Shaq, and all of those would be close.
But the answer is none other than '06 Kobe Bryant. Remember that Kobe? The one that dropped 81-points in a game?
In the 2005-06 season the Black Mamba put the Los Angeles Lakes on his back and carried them to 45-wins while dominating the league to the tune of 35 points per game, which was the highest scoring average of his career.
Kobe Bryant's usage rate that season was 38.74%.
Westbrook's current usage rate is 3.16% higher than the current #1 and to add on to his legendary season, I would like to mention that Russ is currently averaging a triple-double in about ten minutes less than Oscar Robertson.
So there you have it, if he keeps up his current pace, which I am predicting he will, Russell Westbrook will have the highest usage rate of all-time, fulfilling his basketball destiny and becoming a full-fledged hybrid of Oscar Robertson and Kobe Bryant.
But just like Kobe Bryant in his 35-points a game season, and Oscar Robertson in his triple-double season, Westbrook will miss out on the NBA MVP Award. And it will be because of stellar seasons from players' whose teams boast higher winner percentages.
ALL STATS COURTESY OF BASKETBALL-REFERENCE.COM
