WEBVTT - Best Of - Patrick Mahomes vs. Josh Allen DEBATE, Russell Westbrook's ALL-TIME ranking, NBA schedule reaction | Nick Wright 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.480 Welcome to the best of the week for What's Right 0:00:02.560 --> 0:00:05.200 with Nick Right the best takes and moments from this 0:00:05.280 --> 0:00:11.760 week on the show. Enjoy Dan Orlovsky. Credit to Dan, 0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:17.439 who again I know a tiny, tiny bit. Everyone who 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:19.720 does know him speaks about what a great guy he is. 0:00:20.720 --> 0:00:23.840 He is. Some of his opinions have been the subject 0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:26.960 of my scorn over the years, but it's never been 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:29.320 a personal thing with Dan. I think, I hope I 0:00:29.360 --> 0:00:36.280 would assume he knows that. So he discusses in Credit 0:00:36.320 --> 0:00:39.920 to him for having an opinion people care about. To 0:00:39.960 --> 0:00:45.040 where I'm discussing it here he ranked. I'm gonna read 0:00:45.080 --> 0:00:49.240 his words exactly. I ranked the top ten quarterbacks by 0:00:49.440 --> 0:00:55.160 seven different traits arm strength, ball placement, mechanics, decision making, 0:00:55.240 --> 0:01:00.800 pocket presence, second reaction, second reaction, creativity, pardon me, and ability. 0:01:01.200 --> 0:01:04.880 These lists are based on current performance and expectations for 0:01:04.959 --> 0:01:08.000 the twenty twenty sixth season. It's how I would rank 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:11.840 the QB group at this exact moment. I only included 0:01:11.880 --> 0:01:14.440 starters and leaned on what I see on tape to 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:20.240 form the rankings. Okay, great sounds fun. I'm gonna jump 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:25.800 right to the reason we're discussing this and then we're 0:01:25.800 --> 0:01:31.480 gonna do a bigger picture chat on it. Briefly the 0:01:31.680 --> 0:01:39.720 category decision making with the football, and he then describes 0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:44.880 it as here are the league's top problem solvers. Being 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:49.600 a good decision maker means making the right choice when 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:53.920 things are going to plan, but it also means making 0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:57.360 the only choice when things are falling apart. Find the 0:01:57.400 --> 0:02:07.560 correct outlet, but avoid mistakes, turnovers, and negative plays. Okay, 0:02:08.880 --> 0:02:16.600 the number one decision making with the football quarterback in 0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:23.520 the Year of Our Lord twenty twenty six, according to 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:39.320 Dan Orlovsky, is Josh Allen. And this is where so 0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:45.880 much of my Josh Allen frustration comes from. I think 0:02:45.919 --> 0:02:48.200 he's the same you guys. At this point I'm in reruns. 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:50.320 I think he's the second best quarterback in the league. 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:56.080 Of all the quarterbacks in the league who don't have 0:02:56.160 --> 0:03:01.079 a Super Bowl ring, the one that I him, I 0:03:01.200 --> 0:03:04.960 think has the best chance of getting one over the next. 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:06.920 I don't want to say ever, because the younger guys 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:09.200 have an edge there, but over the next five years 0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:15.639 is Josh Allen. Josh Allen at his best is the 0:03:15.680 --> 0:03:21.240 only quarterback in the league that if both guys play 0:03:21.280 --> 0:03:24.120 their best can go toe to toe with Patrick, that 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:28.799 is Josh. I have given him, I think a ton 0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:36.000 of credit for those things. But the frustration that you 0:03:36.040 --> 0:03:39.360 guys hear in my voice when discussing discussing Josh Allen 0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:43.000 so often comes from the way he is covered in 0:03:43.040 --> 0:03:48.880 the media. And I've already had to hear that from Greene. 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:51.680 No one's ever played the position better. I've had to 0:03:51.720 --> 0:03:55.880 hear from folks for years that he's the best quarterback 0:03:55.920 --> 0:04:03.800 in football. And now what I considered to be one 0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:16.080 of his only weaknesses decision making, not panicking, avoiding awful mistakes, 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:21.360 one of the only actual verifiable weaknesses the player has. 0:04:23.000 --> 0:04:25.440 I'm Dotie's the best in the league at it, the 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:30.360 best number one. The last game we saw him play, 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:33.880 he had one of the worst turnovers in playoff history, 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:37.320 and it wasn't the pick that lost him the game. 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:48.760 The the last playoff game he played against the Chiefs 0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:55.040 AFC Championship game two years ago, tried to throw picks 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:58.400 on the two of the first three passes of the game, 0:04:59.240 --> 0:05:04.240 and the year before that fumble the ball three times. 0:05:04.279 --> 0:05:07.280 Since he's come into the league, no player in the 0:05:07.320 --> 0:05:14.920 league has turned the ball over more and he's number 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:21.800 one at decision making, like that's it's just crazy, It's 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:26.800 just and again I think he's such a great player. 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:33.280 But this is damn near the sports version of gaslighting, 0:05:34.080 --> 0:05:38.880 where we're taking one of the player's only fair weaknesses 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:42.040 or critiques and saying, not only is it not a weakness, 0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:45.840 he's the best in the world at it. Like I 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:50.400 don't even think Josh Allen thinks Josh Allen is the 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:56.680 best decision maker in football. It's just baffling to me. 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:07.360 And then we can and then we get to the 0:06:07.360 --> 0:06:12.560 the other piece of this Orlovsky list that is a 0:06:12.560 --> 0:06:19.080 little frustrating, which is again, according to this to Orlovsky's rankings, 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:26.760 there is not a single quarterback trait, not one of 0:06:26.800 --> 0:06:32.640 the seven, not one that Patrick Mahomes is better than 0:06:32.720 --> 0:06:41.039 Josh Allen att not one. Arm strength Mahomes five, Allen one, fine, 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:47.320 so be it arguable, but fine, ball placement Allen seven, 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:55.159 Patrick Mahomes on ball placement not top ten in the league. Okay, 0:06:56.839 --> 0:07:01.080 mechanics this one, I actually probably agree with Allen. Number nine, 0:07:01.320 --> 0:07:09.920 Mahomes not ranked in the top ten decision making a 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:15.120 guy who again I'm not gonna read Mahomes resume decision 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:22.200 making Allen number one, Patrick number nine, Patrick a worst 0:07:22.200 --> 0:07:26.920 decision maker. They end Burrow and Lamar and Dak and 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:30.880 Jaden and Drake May and Jordan Love and Matthew Stafford 0:07:30.960 --> 0:07:37.960 and of course Josh Allen. Pocket presence pocket presence Josh 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:42.560 not ranked. Mahomes not ranked number one pocket presence somehow 0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:46.360 is Drake May, who we just watched get sacked a 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:50.360 thousand times in the playoffs and they were not all 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:56.160 snapsacks number one Pocket presence Drake May. Mahomes not ranked. 0:07:57.080 --> 0:08:01.120 Second reactionability Mahomes number three. Oh, finally something he's better 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:06.320 than Alan that Nope, Allen number one. Rushing ability fine, 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:13.880 Mahomes number seven, Allen number two. I this is what 0:08:14.440 --> 0:08:25.360 again writes about second reactionability. I'm looking for creativity here 0:08:25.480 --> 0:08:28.360 as well as the ability to throw from weird arm 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:33.920 angles and platforms. Mahome's not Listen, Mahome's pretty good at 0:08:33.960 --> 0:08:37.800 that creativity and weird arm angles and platforms, but he's 0:08:37.800 --> 0:08:42.839 no Josh Allen. I mean, what are we doing? Like? 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:49.760 I just I I am verklempt. No, that's the wrong word. 0:08:49.880 --> 0:08:55.080 I think verklempt means hold on. Uh oh no, that's okay. 0:08:55.600 --> 0:08:59.880 He usually is positive, not always with this, and again 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:03.880 credit to Orlovsky, he got me going. But there's not 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:06.520 a single thing on the football field. Patrick Malmes is 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:10.880 better than Josh Allen, and Josh Allen's got the best 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:17.840 decision making of anyone in the league. Come on, I mean, really, 0:09:18.480 --> 0:09:20.720 you ever notice everything keeps going up? Rent's going up, 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:23.480 streaming services going up, even your favorite Burrio spots charge 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:26.319 and your extra for suls It's outrageous. Not with boost Mo. 0:09:26.480 --> 0:09:28.280 With Boost Mobile, you and your phone build on play 0:09:28.320 --> 0:09:29.280 the will this go up soon? 0:09:29.320 --> 0:09:29.520 Game? 0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:32.720 Why? Because boos mool was unlimited talk, text and data 0:09:32.720 --> 0:09:35.160 plan at a price that'll never go up. In fact, 0:09:35.200 --> 0:09:37.240 at the same price you'll pay for life. So switch 0:09:37.320 --> 0:09:40.280 now for unlimited wireless at a price that'll never go up. 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:44.080 Only at Boost Mobile. After thirty gigs, customers may experience 0:09:44.120 --> 0:09:46.959 lower speeds. Customers will pay twenty five dollars per month 0:09:47.000 --> 0:09:50.800 as long as they remain active on the boost Unlimited plan. 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:53.000 All right. 0:09:53.720 --> 0:09:57.920 The other big news yesterday is Russell Westbrook finally calling 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:01.079 it finally sounds meaner than I want to to. After 0:10:01.120 --> 0:10:04.760 eighteen years in the league, Russell Westbrook calling it quits, 0:10:05.559 --> 0:10:09.800 and you know he was still to the bitter end. 0:10:11.000 --> 0:10:15.840 If you gave Russ minutes, he was going to give 0:10:15.880 --> 0:10:18.800 you some level of production. Now it wouldn't always be 0:10:18.800 --> 0:10:23.720 efficient production, obviously, but even last year in Sacramento playing 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:29.760 thirty minutes a game fifteen, six and six basically, And 0:10:33.120 --> 0:10:38.200 there's a lot of ways to discuss Russell Westbrook's career. 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:47.199 I it's one of the most interesting careers ever, it's 0:10:47.240 --> 0:10:50.880 one of the most unique careers ever. It also is 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:57.320 a career that I think will be misremembered as far 0:10:57.400 --> 0:11:04.960 as at his peak how good he was. Really. So 0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:12.720 if you take Russ what I consider his peak, which 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:15.800 is his first full year back after the knee injury, 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:24.000 through his one year in Houston, that year in Houston, 0:11:24.120 --> 0:11:31.840 he was All NBA and was underrated. In those six seasons, 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:38.440 his averages were twenty six, nine and ten. He won 0:11:38.480 --> 0:11:45.000 an MVP, had three other top five finishes, and in 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:49.240 those six seasons was All NBA every season, two time 0:11:49.320 --> 0:11:53.400 first team, two times second team, two time thirteen and 0:11:54.120 --> 0:12:02.800 critically speaking, in those seasons, his team was decidedly better 0:12:02.920 --> 0:12:06.520 with him than without him. And that's the part of 0:12:06.640 --> 0:12:11.160 Russ that I think, because of how the career ended, 0:12:11.960 --> 0:12:17.679 and because some of the analytical numbers are so garish, 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:23.640 people are going to act as if his style never 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:28.480 led to any winning And that's a more complicated discussion 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:32.560 than it actually seems like. But as far as was 0:12:32.600 --> 0:12:37.280 having Russell Westbrook on the court good for your team, 0:12:38.000 --> 0:12:43.600 undeniably yes, throughout the entirety of his prime. Gets a 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:45.720 little trickier in the playoffs, and we'll get to that. 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:55.760 But Russ is during his prime in particular, availability, crazy 0:12:55.880 --> 0:13:06.040 high minutes for the era, absolutely endless energy and effort. 0:13:08.280 --> 0:13:11.560 He was an absolute son of a bitch to deal with. 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:18.360 And while people can parse all in twenty seventeen, MVP 0:13:18.520 --> 0:13:24.200 should have been this guy. He was absolutely a super 0:13:24.240 --> 0:13:31.120 nova that first season in Oklahoma City without Durant. It's 0:13:31.200 --> 0:13:37.440 not only that he averaged a triple double, first guy 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:44.080 to do it since Oscar Robertson, And it wasn't only 0:13:44.120 --> 0:13:47.679 that he broke Oscar Robertson single season triple double record, 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:50.240 and by the way, the game in which he broke 0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:55.240 that record, he had a fifty point triple double and 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:58.880 the buzzer beating three to win the game. It was 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:04.400 that that Oklahoma City teams entire plan every game was 0:14:04.480 --> 0:14:09.680 Russ create fifty some points of offense for us, and 0:14:09.720 --> 0:14:15.000 he did it. He won the scoring title, scoring thirty 0:14:15.040 --> 0:14:18.720 one and a half a game, second scoring title of 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:25.040 his career, I believe. And then also was a terror 0:14:25.760 --> 0:14:31.120 on the glass and despite the insane usage rate, didn't 0:14:31.120 --> 0:14:39.320 wear down and followed those seasons up with two years 0:14:39.320 --> 0:14:42.840 in a row where he won the assists title while 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:47.520 averaging double digit rebounds. And then after that year in Houston, 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:49.960 once he got to Washington, I think we're post prime. 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:53.480 But in Houston, you know, it was twenty two, eleven 0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:56.120 and eleven, and on those silly eighty two and zero 0:14:56.120 --> 0:14:58.520 games or whatever, they treat him like a god for 0:14:58.560 --> 0:15:03.560 that one year. One year in Washington. He had a 0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:10.880 great career and he worked his ass off and all 0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:15.720 time great players that I think, you know, not the 0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:19.960 full list, but that I think he undeniably had a 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:25.400 better career than and was a better player than mellow 0:15:26.720 --> 0:15:40.480 Dominique Dwight A. D. Gary Payton, Steve Nash, Clyde Drexler, 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:47.720 guys that I think he is right behind as far 0:15:47.760 --> 0:15:59.960 as his full career tricky one. But Kawhi Iverson, Clyde Fraser, 0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:05.400 Jason Kidd, Patrick Ewing, that's the group. I have him 0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:14.440 right behind. He's one of the you know, what's my 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:21.120 full list of guards better that have had better careers 0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:34.640 than Russ, the full list, Michael Magic, Kobe Steph those 0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:40.400 are obvious ones. I just don't want to leave anybody out. Zeke, 0:16:44.720 --> 0:16:59.880 Chris Paul, Dwayne Wade, Shay West, and Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, 0:17:00.240 --> 0:17:08.560 Stockton Harden. Those are the twelve guys that, to me 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:13.880 like the only twelve guys that reguards that definitively are 0:17:14.200 --> 0:17:18.240 definitively higher on the pyramid than Russ. I think kids 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:21.600 ahead of him, you know the I think Iversen's a 0:17:21.640 --> 0:17:26.159 touch ahead of him, And I said, SGA right, SGA 0:17:26.760 --> 0:17:32.200 ahead of him. But so he's, you know, somewhere thirteen fourteen, 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:34.159 fifteen sixteen, depending on how you want to do it. 0:17:34.359 --> 0:17:44.760 So it's an unbelievable career. It also is, you know, 0:17:48.080 --> 0:17:54.840 young elite or aspiring elite athletes can learn a lot 0:17:56.080 --> 0:18:04.960 from both sides of Russ's career. You can learn what 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:11.920 endless energy, effort intensity, what that can do for you 0:18:12.040 --> 0:18:15.960 in a positive way. Now, obviously you can't learn his 0:18:16.240 --> 0:18:20.919 absolutely freakish athleticism where there was during his prime he 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:24.120 was a can sit for a decade, maybe a top 0:18:24.200 --> 0:18:26.800 three just raw athlete in the league. Can't learn that, 0:18:27.080 --> 0:18:32.800 But the other stuff you can learn the flip side. 0:18:32.800 --> 0:18:36.600 And I wanted to do this last, not first, because 0:18:36.920 --> 0:18:40.880 I don't listening. He's one of the fortiest greatest players ever. 0:18:40.960 --> 0:18:43.040 I just said, you know, he's one of the thirteen, fourteen, 0:18:43.119 --> 0:18:46.240 fifteen greatest guards of all time. You don't want to 0:18:46.280 --> 0:18:47.920 spend it and the like, here's what was wrong with 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:50.639 him on the front end, but it is part of 0:18:50.680 --> 0:18:56.000 his story, is the stubbornness and the hard headedness and 0:18:57.080 --> 0:19:10.679 the refusal to evolve once he no longer was the 0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:16.000 league's best raw athlete, and how that's a big part 0:19:16.040 --> 0:19:21.359 of the reason that in the final decade of his career, 0:19:24.359 --> 0:19:31.920 teams he was on went on one. 0:19:31.200 --> 0:19:34.360 Sorry, one, two, three, four, five. 0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:43.800 Six, two to eight in playoff series from that first 0:19:43.880 --> 0:19:49.000 year without Durant to retirement, and those two playoff series 0:19:49.080 --> 0:19:52.840 wins were one year in Houston by the skin of 0:19:52.880 --> 0:20:02.320 their teeth over the young young OKC team and the Clippers. 0:20:02.640 --> 0:20:08.560 I'm sorry the Nuggets seven game victory over the Clippers 0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:17.840 last Round one. That's it. And where you know, if 0:20:17.880 --> 0:20:23.399 you russ over that last decade of his career in 0:20:23.520 --> 0:20:31.359 the postseason was so wildly inefficient that it really really 0:20:31.440 --> 0:20:36.959 hurt his teams. From the MVP year through the end 0:20:37.000 --> 0:20:43.080 of his career, fifty three playoff games, thirty eight percent 0:20:43.160 --> 0:20:47.520 from the field, thirty percent from three on five threes 0:20:47.560 --> 0:20:59.119 a game, four turnovers a game, not ideal, and it 0:20:59.440 --> 0:21:12.679 is not nothing that for a guy who had that 0:21:13.040 --> 0:21:22.000 much just unbelievable talent, work, ethic, competitive spirit, all of it. 0:21:23.720 --> 0:21:30.320 When it came to overall team winning, underachieved because he 0:21:30.520 --> 0:21:34.000 was a bit of his own worst enemy. That's not 0:21:34.240 --> 0:21:42.720 like an unfair statement, and there's a lesson in that 0:21:42.800 --> 0:21:50.280 as well. But overall, you know, eighteen years in the. 0:21:50.280 --> 0:22:00.880 League one MVP won, there's seven, six, ten, nine time 0:22:01.000 --> 0:22:06.680 All NBA, two time first team, five time second team, 0:22:06.760 --> 0:22:12.960 two time third team, four consecutive Top four, Top five. 0:22:14.240 --> 0:22:19.720 Pardon me, MVP finishes and as an added bonus, one 0:22:19.800 --> 0:22:27.639 of the greatest off the court guys as far as 0:22:27.680 --> 0:22:31.159 how he treated people on teams and the work he 0:22:31.200 --> 0:22:33.960 did in the community, all those things when I treat 0:22:34.040 --> 0:22:37.959 people that worked for teams those things. One of just 0:22:38.040 --> 0:22:43.840 the greatest guys in the league for twenty years and 0:22:43.880 --> 0:22:46.800 a first ballot Hall of Fame career, and anybody that's 0:22:46.880 --> 0:22:50.200 arguing he's not a Hall of Famer is a moron. 0:22:50.800 --> 0:22:52.919 I can't even say they're just trolling. They they just 0:22:52.920 --> 0:22:55.199 don't understand how the Hall of Fame works. And this 0:22:55.400 --> 0:23:01.720 is he is a no doubt walk right in immediate guy. Hey, everybody. 0:23:01.760 --> 0:23:08.199 With Russell Westbrook announcing his retirement after eighteen years this week, 0:23:08.520 --> 0:23:11.720 we decided we wanted to drop back into your guys feeds. 0:23:12.400 --> 0:23:14.520 The piece we did and we were doing the fifty 0:23:14.560 --> 0:23:18.200 greatest Players of the last fifty years. So it's about 0:23:18.200 --> 0:23:21.080 four years ago on the pod. The conceit of the 0:23:21.119 --> 0:23:25.840 piece was basically kareem through that moment in NBA history. 0:23:25.880 --> 0:23:29.719 So like twenty twenty two is twenty three the fifty 0:23:29.760 --> 0:23:33.600 greatest players of you know that the modern era of 0:23:33.640 --> 0:23:37.680 the NBA At that moment, Russell Westbrook came in thirty 0:23:37.800 --> 0:23:43.600 fifth on those rankings. That's honestly right about where he 0:23:43.720 --> 0:23:48.520 would be today. Like the only guys who weren't on 0:23:48.680 --> 0:23:52.040 the list who would have jumped him would have been 0:23:52.520 --> 0:23:56.880 Shay and Joker, and so he'd still be right around there. 0:23:56.920 --> 0:24:00.479 And he hasn't had any massive postseason or regular season 0:24:01.000 --> 0:24:05.080 moments since then. And so this is a look at 0:24:05.600 --> 0:24:10.880 the Russell Westbrook pod from his spot on the fifty 0:24:10.920 --> 0:24:13.480 Greatest Players of the last fifty years, now that he 0:24:13.560 --> 0:24:20.399 has retired, player number thirty five, Number thirty five, Russell Westbrook. 0:24:21.119 --> 0:24:24.159 Russ was maybe the single hardest player to reign of 0:24:24.200 --> 0:24:32.120 this entire enterprise because so Russ's regular season accomplishments are 0:24:32.280 --> 0:24:35.600 up there with the twelve to fifteen greatest players ever. 0:24:36.000 --> 0:24:38.880 Two time first team All NBA, five time second Team 0:24:38.920 --> 0:24:41.760 All NBA, two time third Team All NBA, so he's 0:24:41.920 --> 0:24:46.320 nine time All NBA. He won an MVP three other 0:24:46.400 --> 0:24:49.520 times he came in top five. He has two scoring 0:24:49.560 --> 0:24:53.119 titles and three assists titles. One of the only players 0:24:53.160 --> 0:24:56.639 in league history, Tiny Archibald, Ostar Robertson, Lebron James, and 0:24:56.720 --> 0:24:59.080 Russell Westbrook are the only guys to ever do it once. 0:24:59.520 --> 0:25:03.080 Russ's on it. Two scoring dials, three assist titles average 0:25:03.080 --> 0:25:06.359 a triple averaging a triple level hadn't been done in 0:25:06.520 --> 0:25:10.640 fifty years. Russ did it three straight seasons, then took 0:25:10.640 --> 0:25:13.119 a year off, did it a fourth straight season. He 0:25:13.240 --> 0:25:15.040 is going to be known for the triple doubles, so 0:25:15.119 --> 0:25:17.159 let's dig in there for a moment. He has won 0:25:17.200 --> 0:25:20.840 one hundred and ninety four career regular season triple doubles 0:25:20.920 --> 0:25:24.320 as of this recording. That's not only the most all time. 0:25:24.960 --> 0:25:29.040 Only Lebron, Jason Kidd, Magic, and Oscar Robertson even have 0:25:29.440 --> 0:25:33.560 one hundred career playoff career regular season triple doubles. Russ 0:25:33.880 --> 0:25:36.399 is likely going to finish his career well north of 0:25:36.480 --> 0:25:40.359 two hundred career triple doubles. In the playoffs. He's third 0:25:40.440 --> 0:25:44.760 all time in triple doubles. Okay, so that's the good 0:25:44.880 --> 0:25:47.440 of Russ. We'll get to the bad in a moment. 0:25:47.880 --> 0:25:50.639 But you guys know how much playoff stuff matters for 0:25:50.720 --> 0:25:55.119 me on this. It's unfair and disingenuous to act like 0:25:55.320 --> 0:25:59.320 Russ never had good playoff moments. He did. So let's 0:25:59.320 --> 0:26:01.680 just we're gonna go in chronological order, and we're gonna 0:26:01.720 --> 0:26:05.360 need some time here. In the twenty twelve Finals, the 0:26:05.560 --> 0:26:09.520 only game the thunder one in that series, he was 0:26:09.560 --> 0:26:14.359 twenty seven, eight and eleven as a kid in the finals. 0:26:15.280 --> 0:26:19.439 In that in game four of those finals, which they lost, 0:26:19.720 --> 0:26:21.400 he was the best player on his seam by mark 0:26:21.760 --> 0:26:25.639 with no dispector Duran. He was forty three seven and 0:26:25.880 --> 0:26:29.280 five on twenty of thirty two from the field in 0:26:29.320 --> 0:26:32.080 game four of those finals forty three, seven and five 0:26:32.320 --> 0:26:34.480 to try to stay alive instead of falling down three 0:26:34.480 --> 0:26:37.000 to one, but they end up losing. For that for 0:26:37.040 --> 0:26:40.560 his first finals ever, he's twenty seven his only finals 0:26:40.800 --> 0:26:44.520 twenty seven, six and seven. So we can't act like 0:26:45.080 --> 0:26:48.640 that that didn't happen. Now, let's move on to twenty fourteen. 0:26:49.119 --> 0:26:54.560 Twenty fourteen, he's twenty seven, ten and sixteen on just 0:26:54.720 --> 0:26:58.760 sixteen shots in game seven of the first round against 0:26:58.840 --> 0:27:01.879 Memphis helped them propelled them what would have been a 0:27:01.920 --> 0:27:06.080 disastrous loss for them. In that same year, Western Armorg 0:27:06.160 --> 0:27:08.879 Semis the next round. You guys, remember everyone remembers the 0:27:08.920 --> 0:27:11.920 CP three meltdown game. Say the Clippers have the big lead. 0:27:12.000 --> 0:27:14.320 CP three tries to draw the foul. He doesn't get it, 0:27:14.560 --> 0:27:17.960 but gets forgotten is Russ in that game went to 0:27:18.080 --> 0:27:20.720 totoe with Chris Paul and ate him up. He was 0:27:20.920 --> 0:27:26.000 thirty eight, five and six and got fouled at the 0:27:26.080 --> 0:27:27.720 very end of the game as the Clipper from Melting 0:27:27.800 --> 0:27:31.800 Down hit all three free throws to win the game. 0:27:32.280 --> 0:27:36.520 That very next round Western Arference Finals, the Thunder a 0:27:36.680 --> 0:27:40.000 down two to one to the Spurs. The Spurs were 0:27:40.040 --> 0:27:44.520 going to win the title. Russ was forty five, ten 0:27:45.119 --> 0:27:48.399 and five up to this point. Yes, he was a 0:27:48.440 --> 0:27:51.880 little inefficient, a little careless with the ball, but nobody 0:27:51.960 --> 0:27:54.800 was killing Russ. So that's twenty fourteen. Let's go to 0:27:54.840 --> 0:27:58.760 twenty sixteen. That's the year the seventy three win Warriors 0:27:58.760 --> 0:28:01.359 were down three to one to Russ and Katie's Thunder. 0:28:01.520 --> 0:28:04.160 Let's all about what he did there in Round one 0:28:04.359 --> 0:28:08.960 against Dallas thirty six, twelve and nine to send Dallas home. 0:28:09.480 --> 0:28:13.280 Average for games five and six of the Western Armand 0:28:13.320 --> 0:28:18.960 Semifinals against the Spurs to send them home average thirty two, 0:28:19.400 --> 0:28:22.240 seven and twelve in those two games. So again, it's 0:28:22.280 --> 0:28:25.800 all going good. To go up three to one on 0:28:25.960 --> 0:28:30.679 the Warriors in the Western Armence Finals average twenty seven, 0:28:31.119 --> 0:28:36.280 seven and twelve, including thirty six, eleven and eleven in 0:28:36.320 --> 0:28:39.080 Game four to go up three to one. The problem 0:28:39.120 --> 0:28:43.200 is since then she's gone real sideways since then, since 0:28:43.240 --> 0:28:47.400 the Klay Thompson game, since that moment and then Katie leaves, 0:28:47.800 --> 0:28:50.240 it's been bad, and it's been bad in the playoffs 0:28:50.240 --> 0:28:54.760 for five six years. So Round one versus Houston, the 0:28:54.760 --> 0:28:58.320 first year without Durant, he did have a fifty one 0:28:58.600 --> 0:29:01.479 ten and thirteen, sixty one ten and a fifty one 0:29:01.520 --> 0:29:04.480 tripled in the playoffs average for the series thirty seven 0:29:04.480 --> 0:29:08.920 to twelve and eleven. But despite that, they lost in five. 0:29:09.240 --> 0:29:11.960 Why did they lose him five? Because even though Russ 0:29:12.000 --> 0:29:14.800 was averaging all those points and assists and rebounds, he 0:29:14.920 --> 0:29:18.200 shot thirty nine percent from the field and twenty seven 0:29:18.280 --> 0:29:22.160 percent from three, and he was shooting ten threes a game. 0:29:22.600 --> 0:29:26.200 Then next year in the first round against I think 0:29:26.200 --> 0:29:29.520 it was Utah with Paul George, he had a forty 0:29:29.600 --> 0:29:32.320 five to fifteen and seven to stay alive and a 0:29:32.400 --> 0:29:35.320 forty six ten and five in Game six, And if 0:29:35.360 --> 0:29:36.880 you go back and look at it, that forty six 0:29:37.040 --> 0:29:40.200 ten and five where they lost, he wasn't good. And 0:29:40.240 --> 0:29:42.600 that was with Paul George. And then the next year 0:29:42.840 --> 0:29:45.160 Dames sends him home and then Paul George leaves him, 0:29:45.400 --> 0:29:49.120 so his career averages for the playoffs are twenty five, seven, 0:29:49.160 --> 0:29:53.640 and eight, which are exceptional, and his career playoff percentages 0:29:53.680 --> 0:29:56.600 are forty percent from the field and thirty percent from three, 0:29:56.680 --> 0:29:59.760 which are awful. So what do you do with Russell 0:29:59.760 --> 0:30:04.400 west I still feel like because it's been so bad 0:30:04.440 --> 0:30:06.440 as of late, and this last year with the Lakers, 0:30:06.480 --> 0:30:11.080 with such a disaster, people forget how dominant he was 0:30:11.120 --> 0:30:14.800 at his peak. Flawed but dominant. The MVP's got to matter. 0:30:15.040 --> 0:30:17.680 The triple doubles might have been slightly overrated, but they 0:30:17.720 --> 0:30:20.160 have to matter to a degree. He was the single 0:30:20.200 --> 0:30:23.520 hardest player to rank in this entire enterprise. He's player 0:30:23.520 --> 0:30:25.760 at number thirty five from Russell Westbrook. And now we 0:30:25.800 --> 0:30:28.160 have a surprise questionnaire. No one has told me who 0:30:28.200 --> 0:30:30.880 this is. Let's see what the Russell Westbrook question is. 0:30:31.360 --> 0:30:34.040 Hey, Nick, you nobody else. We're not a akl from 0:30:34.040 --> 0:30:37.960 White Plains. Here Russell Westbrook at thirty five. We love 0:30:38.080 --> 0:30:41.960 the effort, We love mister triple double. But Russ at 0:30:42.040 --> 0:30:46.040 thirty five, Come on, neck, You've got James Worthy, big game, 0:30:46.200 --> 0:30:50.160 James ten spots down the list. At forty five, you 0:30:50.360 --> 0:30:53.920 have George Gervin never been to an NBA final. Ahead 0:30:54.200 --> 0:30:57.960 of Big Game, James, you have Gary Payton, who won 0:30:58.120 --> 0:30:59.320 a NBA title. 0:30:59.400 --> 0:31:01.360 Is a parting. I had a big game, James. 0:31:01.480 --> 0:31:04.080 You have Sidney MOKRII, who I loved one of the 0:31:04.120 --> 0:31:06.880 triple tremarkets all had a big game James, but Russe 0:31:06.920 --> 0:31:09.800 at thirty five. Big Game James at forty five, one 0:31:09.880 --> 0:31:15.000 Finals appearance for Russ. Big Game James three titles, most 0:31:15.080 --> 0:31:18.840 valuable player in one of the great game seven performances 0:31:18.840 --> 0:31:23.160 in the history of the National Basketball Association. His numbers 0:31:23.160 --> 0:31:26.560 in the postseason leaps and bounds the regular season. This 0:31:26.600 --> 0:31:29.040 guy got it done when it was the most important 0:31:29.080 --> 0:31:30.960 time to get it done, while Russ has been a 0:31:30.960 --> 0:31:33.320 shrieking Violet. Moved that camera up a little closer. 0:31:33.440 --> 0:31:35.840 In words that I know only you can understand this 0:31:35.920 --> 0:31:40.040 old man. He ain't lying, all right. That's the greatest 0:31:40.080 --> 0:31:44.040 sports radio caller ever, my friend Alan white Planes. Unfortunately, 0:31:44.120 --> 0:31:48.320 Alan white Planes, instead of really asking me Russell Westbrook question, 0:31:48.640 --> 0:31:51.440 he used his time to really just make the case 0:31:51.480 --> 0:31:53.880 for James Worthy. James Worthy was a hard one to 0:31:53.920 --> 0:31:56.000 rank as well as we talked about it. If you 0:31:56.000 --> 0:31:58.120 want to go back and listen to the episodes. James 0:31:58.120 --> 0:32:01.680 Worthy doesn't have the All NBA and the MVP votes 0:32:01.680 --> 0:32:03.960 and all that stuff because of the team he was on, 0:32:04.200 --> 0:32:07.160 but he was unbelievable in the biggest moments. So I 0:32:07.200 --> 0:32:10.840 do understand the kind of reversal there. So you have 0:32:10.920 --> 0:32:14.480