The Washington Wizards star Russell Westbrook is averaging a triple-double this season with 21.8 points, 11 rebounds and 10.9 assists per game. He gets some criticism for caring about his stats too much.
Recently, his team went on an eight-game winning streak which ended with an overtime loss to the San Antonio Spurs. After the game the 32-year-old point guard talked about his role on the team and his attitude.
“The thing is is that for me I take pride, like I said, every single night and leaving it all on the floor,” Westbrook said. “I honestly believe there’s no player like myself. And if people want to take it for granted, sorry for them. I’m pretty sure if everybody could it, they’d do it.
“I make sure that I impact the game in many ways every night — defending, rebounding, passing, assisting, whatever it is that my team needs from me to be able to win. That’s what I do. I really don’t care what nobody thinks about it. I don’t care if somebody thinks it is, whatever they want to call it stat-padding not useful.
“I think it’s very interesting that it’s not useful now that I’m doing it. It weren’t useful when Magic [Johnson] and Oscar [Robertson] and those guys were doing it. But now that I’m doing it it looks easy. This sh*t ain’t easy, I tell you that. Ain’t easy.
“I take a lot of pride in my preparation. I take a lot of pride in taking care of my body. I take a lot of pride in competing every night. I don’t take any nights off. I don’t treat the game. So with that I’m okay with the results of going out and competing. If it’s a triple-double, then sh*t why not. That’s my motto ‘Why not’ continue to keep going.”
