Russell Westbrook’s teams have not had a ton of success over the years

Russell Westbrook had spent his entire career with the Oklahoma City Thunder before being traded to the Houston Rockets last season and now, he finds himself on his third team in the last three seasons. 

While he may not be the one to blame, Westbrook’s teams have not had the most success over the last several years. Since the 2016-17 season, just one of the teams Westbrook has been a part of have made it past the first-round of the playoffs, with that sole team being last year’s Rockets team that beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 4-3 in the first-round of the playoffs. 

It may not be entirely his fault for why his teams have failed to find playoff success, but people have been quick to blame Westbrook over the years. For some reason, the narrative has been that Russell Westbrook needs to be better in the playoffs and he is the reason that his teams do not find success. 

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Not only is this narrative untrue, but Westbrook deserves a lot of credit for getting his teams where they are. Since the 2016-17 season, he has averaged 26.1 points, 10.2 rebounds, 10.0 assists and has shot 44% from the floor, so it is kind of hard to say that a player averaging a triple-double over the course of five seasons is the reason his teams are struggling.