(03-09-2022, 09:04 AM)ItsGoTime Wrote: On the flip side, European players aren't being paid $30-40M per year to play. Average Premier League salary is $3.9M while the NBA is $7.9M. They are all still people, but they are very highly paid people, who when it comes to basketball, haven't been told "no" a lot. I imagine the people that sit close enough for the players to hear what they're saying haven't been told "no" a lot in their lives as well.
The players don´t pay themselves. Neither do they trade themselves to a team. Just because somebody makes a lot of money, doesn´t mean he doesn´t deserve to be treated with any sort of human decency. We long crossed that line with Westbrook.
The only question is whether you think Westbrook plays hard and tries his best?
He´s 33 years old.
He´s shooting 0.4/2.2 percentage points below his career averages from the field. He´s -4.2/+0.2/-1.5 in points, assists, rebounds below his career averages.
I don´t even know what people expect?
I´d say he plays pretty much like you´d expect from a 33 year old that has always given 100% for 14 straight years.
Fans seem to have this weird idea in their head that as long as you try hard enough you can change your ability to shoot, defend, rebound, pass, court vision etc. Bascially everything that makes you the player that you are. Sure players do get better and improve in certain areas with professional training, but almost nobody makes it to the NBA without already working incredibly hard and yet half the players drafted still can´t shoot or defend at the highest NBA level.
Is it Westbrook´s fault that LeBron is old and can only play one end of the floor or in quarter spurts? Or that the Lakers made awful front office decisions, including his trade? That Anthony Davis is very injury-prone. Do we get endless coverage that Davis is a weak person, that is out eight weeks every time he turns an ankle or stubs his big toe?