Russell Westbrook is one of the most polarizing superstars the NBA has ever seen. Ever since he made his debut with the Oklahoma City Thunder, it was clear that ‘Brodie’ was an unorthodox point guard. While he was a decent playmaker, what stood out for the guard was his electrifying pace and physicality.
Bursting through defenders and scoring thunderous dunks or layups, Westbrook showed the world why he was a superstar in the making. But one of the biggest flaws that the 6’3″ guard still has is his inefficient scoring. Not only is the 2017 MVP a below-average three-point shooter, his shooting efficiency of 44.4% for his career isn’t impressive either.
While missed three-pointers and ill-timed jumpers might have contributed massively in the below-par field-goal efficiency, his missed layups might have played a significant role in this as well.
Although Westbrook, throughout his career, has relied on his physicality and quickness to get to the rim, the guard unfortunately has fluffed many of his layups. In fact, Westbrook has missed the most layups in the league since they started tracking them in the 1996-97 season, totalling a whooping 2,898 missed layups in his career.
Russell Westbrook has missed the most lay-ups since the @NBA started tracking play-by-play data (in 1996-97).
Russell Westbrook – 2,898 missed lay-ups
LeBron James – 2,617
Carmelo Anthony – 2,563
Allen Iverson – 2,301
Antoine Walker – 2,165 pic.twitter.com/x4nMEG1KWT
— Crazy Stats (@NBAcrazystats) July 28, 2022
Following up Westbrook are two of his Los Angeles Lakers teammates LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, missing 2617 and 2563 layups, respectively. What’s interesting though is that both LBJ and Melo have played 5 more season in the NBA than Westbrook playing 345 and 239 more games, respectively.
This statistic is certainly mind-boggling for a player like Westbrook. Brodie made his name for his insane drives to the basket, but it turns out he has been one of the most inefficient players in scoring layups. While the low-scoring efficiency continues to be the fatal flaw in Westbrook’s game, the guard tries to make it up with his assists and rebounds.
After a forgetful season with the Lakers, Brodie will be determined to put his best foot forward for the upcoming season. He might be an inefficient scorer, but given that LeBron James and Anthony Davis are playing alongside him, this might be the perfect opportunity for Westbrook to mask his weakness. Can the guard make a comeback next season?
