Stephen A. Smith and the Westbrook family have been engaged in a bit of a cold war. In a segment on ESPN, the famous NBA insider flamed Westbrook for his failure to win a Championship.
In response, both Russ and his wife fired back, refuting the idea that he has anything to prove.
Most recently, it was Knicks legend Charles Oakley to stand in defense of Russ, citing that Westbrook is doing all he can with the Wizards this season.
“Stephen A. Smith, I know ESPN wants you to be the main lead and the guy who knows everything about basketball. You gotta hit the brakes on these guys. Westbrook is getting a triple-double. It might not be the best for his team, that’s up to the coaching staff.
They let him do what he do. A commentator can’t change the coaching style. They ain’t fired Brooks yet. So I think that some of these guys just over-talked about basketball never played at the NBA level. They figured because they got a degree, they can talk about this and that. You’ve got to be careful out here.”
On one hand, it’s hard to deny how disappointing it is that Westbrook doesn’t yet have a ring. As good as he is, with the teammates he has had, there really isn’t any excuse as to why he’s fallen so short.
On the other hand, Russ’ performance has not been lackluster. He’s done his thing, stepped up to the plate, and is even amid another triple-double season. Can we really blame him for his teams always falling short?
It’s a debate that will probably never end, but one that Stephen A. is quickly finding himself outnumbered on…
