Stephen A says he's "not impressed" by Russell Westbrook. Russ wife jumps in

[Blackrogue]

I think some of y’all don’t understand what just transpired. Russ has been fighting the media in the whole “ the league lives off narratives”

that’s something Kyrie, and KD struggle with. And I don’t blame them not wanting their character on and off the court being speculated on and or shytted on

Come to think of it I think that's what the brooklyn nets represents. Players who the media have shytted on, like where are you rings etc...players with talent but the media always has something bad to say about them. So it makes sense kd is there, kyrie is there, harden is there after the talk in houston, lamarcus aldridge is there, blake is there after people saying he's washed..
Brooklyn is the perfect magnet for that where they formed like voltron to collectively shyt on other people.

 

[Thavoiceofthevoiceless]

You're what's wrong with nba fans. How do you expect two guards playing with first and second year players mostly to be competitive. Basketball is a team sport. If these guys were with vets doing what they are doing they'd be contenders. But somehow they are to blame when they are producing and the team is not winning because guess what. Everyone is young on the team and need experience.

Dudes on The Coli view them both as "superstars" so there's no excuse. They have the same records as the Cavaliers who best players aren't even close to the talent of Beal and Westbrook. Add Orlando that list as they are only a game behind them. Add Detroit to that list as they are only 4.5 games back of them.

Come up with better excuses.

 

[Thavoiceofthevoiceless]

Remember this team lost a quality starting center, Thomas Bryant, at the start of the year. They've been playing with no real Centers all season.

Still no excuse to have the same record as teams like Cleveland and Orlando with Beal and Westbrook as your best players. We'd be killing any other star players who teams have that type of record. So Beal and Westbrook shouldn't be the exception.

Thomas Bryant wouldn't all of a sudden make them a better team, so don't use him as a scapegoat. You're actually overrating him and his impact. He's decent on offense, but horrible on defense and not the rim protector that they needed.

 

[Blackrogue]

Dudes on The Coli view them both as "superstars" so there's no excuse. They have the same records as the Cavaliers who best players aren't even close to the talent of Beal and Westbrook. Add Orlando that list as they are only a game behind them. Add Detroit to that list as they are only 4.5 games back of them.

Come up with better excuses.

You've got all these posts on this thread and no one has dapped any of them. I even stopped reading your posts and haven't read this one because I don't care about your opinion.

If you were the voice of the voiceless you'd know to stay quiet.

 

[Thavoiceofthevoiceless]

You've got all these posts on this thread and no one has dapped any of them. I even stopped reading your posts and haven't read this one because I don't care about your opinion.

If you were the voice of the voiceless you'd know to stay quiet.

My nikka you think I care about if someone "daps" me

You were the one who first responded my post, so fukk out of here with that bullshyt you're talking about lol.

 

[Cynical Thoughts]

Alot of these NBA dudes are way too sensitive

Yup

It seems current NBA players are just as sensitive as old ones.

if this was an old player talking about Russ all you would here is, old heads always disrespecting.

now what’s the excuse?

 

[Hollywood Co]

These athletes all want a pat on the back for everything

what SAS isn’t serious enough for u to respond to.. he talking about basketball, not saying anything like Russell is a bad husband or Russell need to do this or that off the court

it’s basketball talk damn

Russ was asked about the quote from SAS and that’s how he felt. I see nothing wrong with it and his wife just holding him down like she supposed to.

 

[LV Koopa]

Still no excuse to have the same record as teams like Cleveland and Orlando with Beal and Westbrook as your best players. We'd be killing any other star players who teams have that type of record. So Beal and Westbrook shouldn't be the exception.

Thomas Bryant wouldn't all of a sudden make them a better team, so don't use him as a scapegoat. You're actually overrating him and his impact. He's decent on offense, but horrible on defense and not the rim protector that they needed.

But he's a much better player than the people replacing his minutes. Hence why Moritz Wagner got traded even though he had a good season last year - he isn't good enough to player Center. It also shifts players into playing positions they just aren't good enough to play that affects lineup +/-. Most obvious example is PJ Washington in Charlotte who shines at Center but is a disaster playing PF.

I never rated Westbrook as a high impact player to begin with, and he came into the season injured. Who in their right mind would be surprised this team sucks with that + the aforementioned Center problem? Beal is good but if anyone really thought this team would be some type of contender then they should stay away from any betting market. This team is performing badly but basic analysis would show this was a likely outcome.

 

[Kinguno]

Stephen A ain't say one lie but some dudes wanna make it about him.On a different note, I find it interesting one of the main attributes folks point out about Westbrook, rightfully so I may add, is how competitive he is on the court while giving maximum effort. Meanwhile, Westbrook talking about he's a champion in life.How competitive can u actually be if winning in your sport doesn't matter to you?

Especially with how he acted after the KD left the team. It was Russ throwing shots publicly and who let the world know that they called certain people cupcakes you don’t do that subconsciously he knew what he was doing to throw shots. Won a MVP off KD hate and got hype off the white validation. Russ went out of his way to gas up cats like Kanter to shyt on KD when KD never shytted on Russ publicly and defended him on the burners.


If anything the statements from him and his wife are concession speeches amazing performances moving forward be damned.

 

[Thavoiceofthevoiceless]

But he's a much better player than the people replacing his minutes. Hence why Moritz Wagner got traded even though he had a good season last year - he isn't good enough to player Center. It also shifts players into playing positions they just aren't good enough to play that affects lineup +/-. Most obvious example is PJ Washington in Charlotte who shines at Center but is a disaster playing PF.

I never rated Westbrook as a high impact player to begin with, and he came into the season injured. Who in their right mind would be surprised this team sucks with that + the aforementioned Center problem? Beal is good but if anyone really thought this team would be some type of contender then they should stay away from any betting market. This team is performing badly but basic analysis would show this was a likely outcome.

Nobody expected them to be contenders, but they also didn't expect them to be 4.5 back of being the worst team in the east. There are other teams in the league who have horrible supporting casts, but also don't have their two best players have the talent of Westbrook and Beal. They aren't the only team in the least who have had to deal with COVID and injuries.

These type of discussions are going to come back into the fold when it comes time to determine who makes All NBA team. A players record is going to be used against them in spite of the numbers that they put up. A player can point to their numbers all they want, but you're not going to likely make the All NBA if your team isn't that good.

Is it fair? No. That's why the league should have never tied contract incentives to awards season.

 

[LV Koopa]

Nobody expected them to be contenders, but they also didn't expect them to be 4.5 back of being the worst team in the east. There are other teams in the league who have horrible supporting casts, but also don't have their two best players have the talent of Westbrook and Beal. They aren't the only team in the least who have had to deal with COVID and injuries.

These type of discussions are going to come back into the fold when it comes time to determine who makes All NBA team. A players record is going to be used against them in spite of the numbers that they put up. A player can point to their numbers all they want, but you're not going to likely make the All NBA if your team isn't that good.

Is it fair? No. That's why the league should have never tied contract incentives to awards season.

True, but betting sites had their O/U at ~30-35 games. Clearly, playoffs were not exactly a lock for them in most people's minds. When you are rated that low and end up falling, that isn't a surprise. Washington's team is REALLY that bad. After Beal and WB they have no average starting NBA quality players on the roster. This is why the loss of TB hurts so bad. It's like going from a player ranked 80th to someone ranked 200th. That is a massive drop even if the 80th ranked guy isn't a star. It takes generational talent to overcome supporting casts that bad - even KAT in Minnesota can't do it. And he's a much better player than WB and Beal.

I never mentioned Covid or gave this team any excuse. All I said is this team is filled with bad players, many of whom are young, so nothing about their performance should be surprising.

 

[Thavoiceofthevoiceless]

True, but betting sites had their O/U at ~30-35 games. Clearly, playoffs were not exactly a lock for them in most people's minds. When you are rated that low and end up falling, that isn't a surprise. Washington's team is REALLY that bad. After Beal and WB they have no average starting NBA quality players on the roster. This is why the loss of TB hurts so bad. It's like going from a player ranked 80th to someone ranked 200th. That is a massive drop even if the 80th ranked guy isn't a star. It takes generational talent to overcome supporting casts that bad - even KAT in Minnesota can't do it. And he's a much better player than WB and Beal.

I never mentioned Covid or gave this team any excuse. All I said is this team is filled with bad players, many of whom are young, so nothing about their performance should be surprising.

Minnesota's supporting cast isn't that bad at all. The issue is that none of them know how to play any semblance of defense.

Even KAT is top 5 most offensively talented players in the league, but his lack of defense and rim protection keeps him from becoming a generational talent and taking Minnesota to the next level.

 

[Shadow King]

Funny how most of the people in here are defending Russ stat padding but started the stats vs rings argument for You Know Who vs You Know Who.

It's one thing to defend someone breaking the box score en route to the Conference Finals or Finals and falling short, it's another to do it for someone who can't take a first round series to 7 games and is now potentially missing the playoffs.

 

[Sterling Archer]

Russ is not a hill im gonna die on but I find it interesting how the narratives have flipped since 2013. Numbers Rings. The answer seems to change depending on what your favorite player is lacking.

 

[Piff Perkins]

People who cover the NBA actually hate the NBA

shyt like this really makes you appreciate the NFL. Sure they're dirtbags but give em a hand: they will not let the media shyt talk their stars or product. They defend and protect the shield. They've made ESPN fall back hard before (remember Playmakers?).

Meanwhile the NBA allows Stephen A to run wild on ESPN, and Shaq/Charles to run wild on TNT. Even if you dismiss Stephen A as the unserious troll he is, what's the excuse for Shaq and Charles showing zero respect for the modern game and putting no effort into even knowing who the players are. They need to get rid of them. Bring in Gilbert Arenas and Wade. It's time to move on.

This really makes me respect Kobe even more. He could have easily made bank on ESPN/TNT shyt talking players. Instead he limited his brand/voice, and made it more valuable. Shaq was my favorite player growing up so seeing him completely tar his image is fukking sad to me. Dude is nothing more than a bitter clown now. Nobody in the league respects him.