Being a true playoff point guard means putting aside selfish needs for the betterment of the team. I’m a Westbrook fan, but I’ve understood some of the negativity that has been pointed towards Westbrook with some of the low IQ shots he’d take at the end of games.

Russell Westbrook has an incredible talent, understands the game, and is a great point guard for the Thunder. He always has been spectacular for the Thunder, particularly in the regular season.

Critics of Westbrook constantly label Westbrook as a ‘non true point guard’. In the playoffs this year, Russell Westbrook has started to remove that label.

Westbrook averaged over 20 shots per game in each playoffs since 2010 until this year. In these playoffs, he is only averaging about 17 shots per game. Before this year, he had never averaged over 9 assists per game in any playoffs. This year, he’s at 10.7 assists per game.

That willingness that he is gaining to get others involved first is what is making him one of the best players in the playoffs this year. Sure, the Thunder have only played 3 games, but Westbrook has seemed to have a new mentality this playoffs than one’s in the past.

Yesterday, when the Thunder annihilated the Mavs by a score of 131-102, Russell shot 9 for 16 while recording 26 points and 15 assists. That was the 28th time in NBA Playoff History that a player has had a 25-point, 15-assist game.

Russell Westbrook is actually only the 7th player to ever have two such games in the playoffs. The other 6 are Isiah Thomas, Magic Johnson, John Stockton, Kevin Johnson, Steve Nash, and Chris Paul. It’s safe to say that the six of those players are ‘true point guards’. Maybe it’s time for us to give Russell Westbrook that label as well.