Nick Saban, LeBron James … Adam Levine — she knows them all. I judge superstardom by the mom factor. If my mother knows who you are, you’re officially a full blown superstar.
That day is soon coming for Russell Westbrook.
The Thunder guard completed his fourth straight triple double Wednesday night, dropping 49 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in the win against the Sixers, continuing his season of utter terror.
So why is this triple double such a big deal? It not only tied Larry Bird for the highest scoring triple double ever, but four straight triple doubles hasn’t been done sine Michael Jordan in 1989.
Although he has a long way to break Jordan’s record (Jordan reeled off seven straight triple-doubles and 10 out of 11 games for the Bulls in ’89), Westbrook performed great despite wearing a mask to protect his right cheek bone that was fractured in a game last week — one in which he had another triple double.
This is what his face looked like near the end of last Friday’s game.
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And this is what he looked like Wednesday night post-surgery.
This is Russell’s 6th triple double of the season. He’s averaging 33.7 points, 10.6 rebounds and 11.2 assists since the All-Star break.
Barring injury or something incredible, Westbrook will be your 2014-15 NBA MVP — hard to believe the Thunder will have an MVP not named Kevin Durant (last year’s MVP).
Josh Helmuth is the editor of CraveOnline Sports.
Photo Credit: Getty