When I was in kindergarten, I remember having a series of dreams.
The exact dream is hazy, as most dreams are when thinking back to them more than a decade later, but it had to do with a monster living in my closet. I was terrified, petrified and probably a few other adjectives that end with “-fied.”
I had my parents spray Monster-B-Gone , which I eventually found out was just water in an old Windex bottle, and I started to face the wall when I would sleep so as to avoid seeing the creature in the closet. Every dream — night in, night out — would be of this monster terrorizing me.
Around 2 a.m. one morning, I awoke petrified by the idea of the monster coming to get me. I couldn’t fall back to sleep.
Now let’s talk about Russell Westbrook.
Drafted in 2008 by the Seattle Supersonics (sad face emoji), Westbrook was never supposed to be this good. He was known as an “unproven commodity” out of UCLA who wasn’t a point guard or a shooting guard.
Draft experts pinpointed all his weaknesses as a shooter, ball-handler and floor general. His defense and natural talent were second to none, but that skill set ultimately makes up a glue-guy, not a triple-double machine that has the will and stamina of The Terminator.
Over the past few years, Westbrook, the quintessential second banana, has been the sidekick to fan favorite and perhaps the best scorer of all time, Kevin Durant. The two led the Thunder to win nearly 67 percent of their games over the past seven years and made the NBA Finals along the way.
Durant’s sudden departure to the Warriors in free agency has become the catalyst for something new. It’s Westbrook’s team now. With an extension under his belt, Westbrook has essentially declared himself the captain for the foreseeable future.
The Thunder has now given their “monster” free reign.
Westbrook is polarizing. Everyone in professional sports does their best — side-eye glance at Dwight Howard — but it seems that Westbrook plays just a smidge harder. His energy and enthusiasm is evident.
This is a player that goes at rookies in the preseason to send a message and stares down his own teammates after high-fives. Everything Westbrook does is at 100 percent, a fact that could also lead to his downfall. In the J.R. Smith or Jamal Crawford vein, Westbrook constantly takes ill-advised shots. He tries to take over games at the end, occasionally icing out his own teammates. His overall demeanor seems exhausting at times and was rumored to be a reason why Durant left town.
What Westbrook does this upcoming season is, without question, the most interesting subplot of the NBA season. Yes, it’s August, and we still have months to go. Yes, LeBron will be looking to take another title home to Cleveland (a weird phrase to type). Yes, the Warriors will look to improve on the best regular season of all time with another powerful weapon.
Yet ... all eyes should be on Oklahoma City and the monster that has been created.
There are two ways this could go as all things do with Russell Westbrook: really great, or a trainwreck of massive proportions. The last time Westbrook was the sole star on Oklahoma City — in Durant’s injury plagued 2014-15 season — Westbrook became Mr. Triple Double, hurling himself into the MVP Race and into the record books. Nevertheless, they went 27-28 without their other superstar and missed out on the playoffs for the first time since 2009.
Of course, now the squad will now be built around No. 0. The offense will run through him. Expect more pick and rolls with the plethora of Thunder big men and less of a stagnant offense that Durant oftentimes preferred. Along with newly-acquired Victor Oladipo (you’ve probably heard of him), mustache aficionado Steven Adams and a newly-replenished bench, the Thunder will certainly be a playoff team. How far they go falls squarely on their leader’s shoulders.
It seems only right that Westbrook plays for Oklahoma City. It’s a thunderstorm in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” that gives Victor the idea to create the horror. The Thunder have now shaped and formed something that can’t be controlled. The All-NBA point guard has been given the green light; the rest of the NBA should be terrified.
Hopefully, opposing teams have some Monster-B-Gone.
gigottfr@umail.iu.edu
@gott31
