NBA
NBA Power Rankings: Respect Due
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated16 Oct 2023
We will briefly take a moment to wish Derrick Rose all of the best and breathe a major sigh of relief with the news that his knee surgery will not keep him sidelined for the remainder of the season.
And with that shout out, we will pivot and dedicate the rest of this space to Russell Westbrook and the way that he has capably led the Oklahoma City Thunder in Kevin Durant’s absence. In case you missed it, Westbrook turned in his fourth consecutive triple-double on Wednesday night when he led the Thunder to a 123-118 overtime win over the Philadelphia 76ers. Westbrook turned in a 49-point, 16-rebound, 10-assist triple-double.
Over his last four, Westbrook has averaged 37.5 points, 13.5 rebounds and 10.5 assists. The league hasn’t seen something like that since Michael Jordan averaged 33.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 11.6 assists over a 13-game span that saw him turn in seven straight triple-doubles and 10 in an 11-game span. That was back in March of 1989. So yea, this isn’t something you see everyday.
If these were MVP Power Rankings, Westbrook would be at the top followed by James Harden and Stephen Curry, but alas, they are not.
These are team power rankings, and although we pay homage to Westbrook for the feat, his Thunder still trail some of the most consistent teams across the league.
Have you missed a Power Ranking? Here is the Power Rank archive.
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