Demetrius Young
MC301 Writer
Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook continues to break records almost every night he steps on the court but will not be a starter during the upcoming NBA All Star game due to fan voting.
Westbrook is credited with putting the Thunder on his back after an abrupt and unexpected departure of friend and teammate, 2013-2014 MVP Kevin Durant. Durant decided to leave the Thunder to play for championship contender team, the Golden State Warriors, who ironically eliminated the Thunder in the 2016 Western Conference finals.
Kevin Gardner, a sophomore engineering major from Jackson, Miss, believes the over cite is a snub to Westbrook so the starting position could be given to fan favorite Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.
“Westbrook not starting in the All Star game makes me feel as if he is being overshadowed by superstars who have teams with better records than Oklahoma City Thunder. It is very hard to hear from a NBA commentator that Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder is averaging a triple-double and is the favorite to be named the NBA’s most valuable player because of that, but he will not be starting in the All-Star Game,” said Gardner.
He added: “I do not believe that the league adding the new fan vote category is an influence toward not giving him the opportunity to start but it gives the fans, who are mostly bandwagons of more popular teams, to choose who they want as an All-Star starter. I also believe that NBA decided to create this category to help boost their viewers numbers by letting the fans decide on who they want to watch and who they want them to play with in hopes that it results in higher views and ratings.”
William Smith, a sophomore engineering major from Jackson, Miss., believes that a player averaging double digit points, rebounds and assists is very rare and should be rewarded.
“I am an Oklahoma City Thunder fan and I hated when KD (Kevin Durant) left the team. I told a bunch of friends that Russell Westbrook was going to come back better than ever to try and prove that he was better than KD and that he did not need him. Now see them cheating him out of his All Star starting spot is only going to give him more fuel to play harder and try harder, because he was already unstoppable with KD but now that he is controlling everything on his own, no one stands in the way of him getting a triple double every night.”
Smith added: “When it comes down to the starting point guard spot in the All Star game, no disrespect to Steph Curry, because he is good but he is not on Russell’s level and if it wasn’t for the fan voting he (Westbrook) would have had the position.”
Other fans agree that Westbrook should be in a starting position.
“I feel like he deserves it, if he goes out every night and works that hard to get his team a win then he deserves some form of reward or recognition,” said Timothy Young, a junior business major from Jackson, Miss.
The 66th NBA All Star Game will take place Sunday, Feb. 19 at Smoothie King Arena in New Orleans.
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