Thunder veteran says "Westbrook thinks he's better than Durant"

Deferring to a player does not mean he thought Jordan was better than him. Sometimes Kobe defers to Pau, sometimes Lebron defers to Wade.

I'm saying that most great players think they are better than their teammates. The only danger comes when jealousy starts to creep in imo. That westbrook should have the fame of Durant. I bet Durant wouldn't even be mad if Westbrook said that to his face, that stuff happens all the time.

Here is what Pippen said...

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/17270402/

It was a Chicago Tribune article, but they took it down.

 

Yes he deserved it. Who do you think should have been named an all-star over him?

Did you say he should not have made it when the All-Star reserves were listed, because at that time I don't remember one single person on this board saying Westbrook should not have been an all-star.

 

On the NBA Today podcast it was noted that there were 10 possessions in the 4th QTR of Game 3 alone where Westbrook brought the ball up and never passed it.

 

Like adding in Tracy McGrady's name into the discussion as a negative example for no apparent reason? Dump on him, deservedly. Just didnt see how that correlated into the discussion

 

Well that's the thing. He's the best of the rest after Chris Paul, not saying much here. Overrated, doesn't help that he's a conceited b*stard.

 

he is a conceited b*stard, but he did deserve the allstar as well. remember though he still young.

 

Wow...just when you thought #33 couldn't be more obnoxious. I never saw those quotes before.

 

Westbrook is the MVP tonight - For the Mavs

 

Me neither.

Thanks, JayGoogle. I was wrong about Pippen. Can't believe he really said that. Just makes me despise him even more.

 

I think Stephen Jackson said he felt he was good a Kobe.

The point is it doesnt matter what they say or think. Some players need/have to play with a high level of confidence. You can make fun of them for it but if you dont have confidence in what your doing than you probably wont play up to your highest level.

 

Its not just about being in the clutch. The Thunder won their only game with Durant and a bunch of bench players. Durant is more than just being clutch, he's also amazingly efficient and is the league's best "pure" point scorer, whether its via dunks, 3s or the ft line. WB is also a pg, a ball hog pg is the worst ball hog you can have because its his job to distribute the rock. If he thinks he better than every body else and starts taking jumpshot after jumpshot that don't connect, then that stalls the offense.

 

He made similar quotes when he was getting ready to leave the Bulls as a free agent. I'm remembering a SLAM magazine (him on the cover) where he was making a lot of noise about being the best player in the NBA but nobody appreciated him (partially a bitter dig at the Bulls for paying MJ $33M but keeping him at $6M).

Edit/Update:
May have been this issue (1996)

 

thats actually quite obvious if u watch the thunder play...when durant catches fire, westbrook starts jacking up shots instead of feeding him the ball...

 

Like Durant catching fire last night?

 

The thing I took out of this article was that Kevin Ollie, Desmond Mason, and Robert Swift are still in the league. You learn something new everyday I guess.

 

westbrook has an ugly shooting form, which is only compounded by the fact he keeps subjecting us and his team too it.

 

To me, this just says that the other guys just aren't as involved as they need to be. This isn't a good thing. Just look at what has happened in the 4th quarter for OKC this series. Westbrook wastes a lot of time bringing the ball up. Durant is doubled, so he can't get the ball to him. And finally, when no one else gets involved, the result is jacking up a bad shot.

I'm not going to blame just Westbrook or just Durant, but if the other guys were more involved (just look at Harden), that would open up the double team and allow both Durant and Westbrook to get easier and better shots, or get other teammates good shots.

 

They for some reason try to involve Thabo and his 15% three shooting.

(Have sort of said this before: Harden gets everyone involved, Westbrook generally only looks for Durant, hence his inflated assist number for KD. How much that has to do with Harden generally playing with more scoring threats, I don't know.)

 

Westbrook is a beast...I wouldnt trade him for anyone....They are in the WCF just 4years after having the No.2 pick in the draft....No need to change anything...Besides the OKC fans are loyal and expect the organization to be loyal toward their star players....

 

Wow I didn't know Desmond Mason was still in the league either