For the season and a half that he played in Los Angeles, LA Clippers fans enjoyed the up-and-down experience that is having Russell Westbrook on your team. When he first joined the Clippers post-trade deadline in February 2023, Westbrook actually had a very solid streak of positive play, culminating in his memorable performance against the Phoenix Suns in round one of the playoffs.
But at this stage of his career, the good often comes with bad as well. That is simply the nature of being the type of hard-nosed competitor that Westbrook is. He is not the type of player that is going to protect his stats in an attempt to avoid criticism. Like him or not, he truly does care about winning, and his efforts are always going to be pointed in the direction of getting his team a victory, whether his numbers are gaudy or not.
In recent years, Russ has become something of an easy target for those who love to direct criticism at him. His game has clearly slowed down, and that means he is going to have very solid and very not-so-solid evenings on the hardwood. Clippers fans know exactly what I mean, and now, through eight games in Denver, Nuggets fans are beginning to understand it as well.
Westbrook has been up-and-down to begin his Nuggets tenure
On October 26 (against the Clippers no less), Westbrook posted a two-point outing in 19 minutes of play. He shot 0-for-8 from the floor and 0-for-3 from three-point range. Social media was flooded with jokes about Westbrook, with fans saying he needed to retire, go play in China, and every other reference in the book.
Then, on Wednesday night, Russ put up a season-high 29 points, six rebounds and six assists. He made 10 of his 15 shot attempts and knocked down three of four three-pointers. It was an all-around stellar performance in a game where the Nuggets took down the previously undefeated Oklahoma City Thunder.
In short, this is the Russell Westbrook experience. Yes, he was once a league MVP and a massive positive every single time he stepped on the floor. But now, fans of the team he plays for will have to know that they could be getting any number of performances when Russ suits up.
Criticism of Westbrook is overblown and overused, even at this stage of his career. But at the same time, relying on him was certainly a taxing experience for Clippers fans. They can now feel validated knowing that Nuggets fans are going through the same experience they did for a season and a half.