The Oklahoma City Thunder have one of the best one-two punches in the NBA. Let me re-phrase that, they have the best one-one punch in the NBA in Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. They are so close and as of now NBA 2K16 has KD as the better player with a 93 overall rating (Russ has a 92 rating). For your information, for a time during the season, Westbrook had the higher rating of 92 to KD’s 91. If someone tells you that either player is clearly better, they are lying. You can literally make a comeback argument for every reason why one is better than the other, and that is what makes KD and Russ so perfect for each other. They compliment each other’s games about as great as anybody in the league.
For as great as KD and Russ are individually, they need one another to ultimately win. We saw the perfect example with KD being out. When KD gets hurt, the Thunder regresses from a team that could possibly win the west to a team that could maybe squeak into the playoffs if they were lucky. We saw it last year and we saw it for about a week this season.
The same applies to when Russ gets hurt. We saw in the playoffs a few years ago that KD couldn’t win without him, Russ is just too valuable. Russ compliments KD so well it is crazy.
KD and Russ are almost polar opposites. One is a 6’9″ forward, the other is a 6’3″ guard. One is smooth shooting, the other is ultra athletic slasher. One is possibly the best offensive player in the league, the other is Mr. Triple Double. One has a calm demeanor, the other is very emotional. They both are extremely competitive and don’t want anything to do with a loss.
This season Westbrook is averaging 25.4PPG, 9.4APG, 6.8RPG and 2.4SPG. While those stats are amazing, KD matches it with his 26.8PPG, 4.7APG, 7.7RPG, 1.4SPG and 1.0BPG. Those are two players who have stat lines that just about any team in the NBA would die for and they are on the same team!
Westbrook and Durant are running mates, they have been their entire career. I can’t think of another player in the league that would compliment both individually. Westbrook is the most aggressive player in the league. He literally wants to take your basketball life when he is playing against you. He won’t take no for an answer.
In my opinion, Russell Westbrook is currently the best point guard in the NBA. For you Curry fans, I’ll debate you later. Westbrook is easily the most complete player. I mean the guy is Mr.Trip-Dub! Not only does Westbrook play really well on offense, but he makes his opponent’s night living hell with his defense.
While it is tougher to say that KD is the best small forward, I can tell you he is obviously right up there. Durant has the smoothest offensive game right now. Durant can post you up, take you off the dribble and do basically anything you want him to do on offense. Don’t forget that Durant is a near 7 footer.
With this duo being back and healthy, the rest of the Western Conference should be scared. I know how dangerous the Warriors seem, but I think they could be defeated by this Thunder team. OKC is only at the tip of the iceberg, they still have so much more room to grow. With the way OKC knows how to develop players and if KD stays in town, we could be seeing the beginnings of a dynasty.
When you watch the Thunder play, make sure to see how Durant and Westbrook feed off of each other. It is quite incredible.