The league has seen many great guards that have displayed their talents in the NBA for years. But just being great individually doesn’t translate to winning titles in the league. There are many talented guards who have seen that reality.
The names of Allen Iverson, James Harden, Chris Paul, and Russell Westbrook might come to mind when we talk about this subject. All four players have had amazing individual campaigns at some point in their careers.
In fact, AI, Harden, and Westbrook have even won the MVP award in their respective careers. But when it comes to the playoffs, they haven’t had much success. This puts them in a somewhat similar category of players.
Keeping that in mind, the popular Twitter page “NBA Central” asked its fans to pick one player from the four that they would pick to let go.
1 Gotta Go pic.twitter.com/mqsQfpSR3J
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) July 20, 2022
Obviously, this question instantly sparked a debate among fans from all around the globe. Here is what the fans think about the question asked by NBA Central.
I know everyone gonna say Russ but honestly what has cp3 done In his career? Barely made a finals old as shit and he never even won a mvp
— champ isreal ⚡️ (@15R34L) July 20, 2022
AI went to the finals so do what you want with the rest. 😒 Harden is an easy choice because he's NEVER BEEN to the finals despite being hyped as a NBA great.
— Darwin Moore (@DarwinLMoore) July 21, 2022
https://twitter.com/JJPeacockIV/status/1549887333008375809
I mean Westbrook is actually bad
— Sean Hoy (@SeanHoy27) July 21, 2022
Nobody would miss Harden
— YOSHIDA SEASON (@youngmilkmurphy) July 21, 2022
Idk if it a hot take or not but prime CP3 is better than prime Russ
— J (@sanchezjason_) July 20, 2022
https://twitter.com/Matthewwlr_/status/1549884926937501696
Hate to say it but it’s either CP3 or harden. I’m only saying CP3 and harden cause they didn’t change the game the same way that Russ and AI did
— itsyaboi (@CatNation13) July 20, 2022
The worst player in this pic if we are going by career is Paul. The other 3 have won MVP’s. Paul is not that level of player.
— Will Cook (@WC1221) July 21, 2022
Allen Iverson shouldn’t even be on this list. He took a subpar team to the finals, and played against one of the best lakers teams assembled. Anybody else in the west and they win the finals. Westbrook gotta go. Way too many turnovers, and couldn’t lead a team
— Terence Williams (@TCWill85) July 21, 2022
Respectfully WestBrook gotta go, all great players tho 👍
— 𝕵𝖆𝖗𝖎❄️🎄 (@JariDaRealist) July 20, 2022
https://twitter.com/Jesusgump1/status/1550202110800580608
The comments section of the Twitter post was full of different answers from fans based on their understanding of the game. While it seemed like a close debate, the slight majority still wanted Russell Westbrook to be the one off this list.
This could be due to recency bias, as Westbrook just had one of the worst seasons of his NBA career. Due to that, most fans have jumped on the Westbrook hate bandwagon. But during the prime of his career, he was a great player to watch.
Now, despite that, when you compare his skill set to that of CP3, AI, and Harden, he is still arguably a notch below the other three superstars in their primes. All things considered, it might not be an easy choice, but the only correct answer seems to be Westbrook.
