LA Clippers guard Russell Westbrook won the 2017 league MVP, averaging 31.6 PPG, 10.7 RPG, and 10.4 APG for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Despite being the league MVP winner because of those figures, Westbrook also faced a lot of criticism during the season as a result of the “stat-padding” storyline that was promoted by certain members of the national media.
Throughout his career, Westbrook has averaged a triple-double four times and has encountered this storyline each time. Since Westbrook, no one in the NBA has averaged a triple-double more than anybody else in NBA history.
Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic is currently averaging 26.1 PPG, 12.3 RPG, and 9.3 APG, and Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic is currently averaging 34.3 PPG, 9.5 APG, and 8.8 RPG.
Both averaging close to a triple-double, neither Jokic nor Doncic have been able to reach Westbrook’s 2017 averages, but one former NBA star feels they are getting more favorable media coverage than he did.
During a recent episode of Gil’s Arena, NBA legend Gilbert Arenas said, “Russell Westbrook has a triple-double season, that’s considered stat-padding. Jokic and Luka have almost a triple-double season, and that’s ‘Woo! So great! They almost got it, we should round up for them.’ The f–k are we rounding up for when the person who actually got one, we’re like, ‘Eh.'”
Calling out what he feels is hypocrisy from the national media, Arenas believes Westbrook was held to different standards than Jokic and Doncic.