Sophia Michaels
Even at this stage of his career, Russell Westbrook is still one of the most explosive players in the NBA. Since he entered the league, he’s made a reputation for himself by throwing down some of the nastiest and most ferocious jams the game has ever seen. Westbrook attacks the rim with a reckless fury that few people on the planet can muster.
He has no compunction about dropping the hammer on whoever might be in his way, regardless of whether that person might be a full foot taller and 70 pounds heavier. His combination of speed and raw power is unique even among the best athletes on the planet.
But at 31 and in his 11th season, Brodie might finally be showing some signs that his athleticism is waning a bit. On Friday night against the Sixers, Westbrook missed not one, but two, relatively wide-open dunks that should’ve been easy buckets in a tightly-contested game. The first one came midway through the third quarter on a fast break.
Russell Westbrook’tan 2020’NİN SMACI! 👀😁 pic.twitter.com/AP4rJsczpA
— Her Şey NBA (@herseynba) January 4, 2020
The second came later in the third near the end of the period as he tried and failed to follow up a Clint Capela miss with a put-back attempt.
Westbrook misses the putback, but Ben Simmons throws it down at the other end
(via @LeighEllis)pic.twitter.com/DyT86m9QlJ
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) January 4, 2020
In the end, it didn’t matter, as the Rockets were able to get the 118-108 win. Westbrook finished with 20 points but was just 9-of-22 on the night, while James Harden led the way with a huge triple-double: 44 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists.
Written by: Uproxx
