Westbrook hits back at critics: 'Nobody else can do what I can do'
Russell Westbrook has no time for criticism.
The Oklahoma City Thunder point guard averaged 22.8 points in the first-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers but shot just 36 percent from the floor and 32.4 percent from deep as his team was eliminated in five games.
Westbrook vowed Thursday to come back next season a stronger shooter, and, despite his struggles, took exception with the varying criticism hurled his way.
"There used to be conversations if I was a ball hog, but now I lead the league in assists for the past three years or whatever it is, that's getting squashed out," he told reporters during exit interviews, according to ESPN's Royce Young. "So now the conversation is about shooting. Next year I'm going to become a better shooter. After that it'll be probably, f---, my left foot is bigger than my right one. Who knows.
"So that's why, back to your point, I don't really care what people say, what they think about me, because it doesn't really matter. I know what I'm able to do and know what I'm able to do at a high level every night, and nobody else can do what I can do on a night-in, night-out basis, and I truly believe that. If they could, I'm pretty sure they would. But I know for a fact that nobody can."
The guard's shooting woes were arguably most apparent in the decisive Game 5, during which he shot 11-of-31 from the floor, missing more field goals than the rest of the Thunder (36-of-55) combined.
Though his time in the postseason was shortlived, the 30-year-old still amassed another historic regular season. He's the only player in the history of the sport to average a triple-double in three consecutive campaigns and became the first since Wilt Chamberlain in 1968 to record a 20-20-20 game, which he did during a win over the Los Angeles Lakers earlier in April.
"When you do so much at a high level, a lot of haters come," he said. "That's how life is, man. That's life, man. When you do so much, people going to try to pull and take away and try to take that away from you.
"But nobody can take away from me. I've been blessed, and I stay prayerful, stay thankful to be able to do what I'm able to do, and nobody can ever take that away from me, regardless of what it is, how many stories are written, how many stats are put up, how many numbers are put up."