Russell Westbrook faced significant criticism from a prominent member of the NBA media after a recent error caused the Denver Nuggets to lose a much-needed game. With the 2024-2025 season ending, the Nuggets are not in danger of facing the play-in tournament but are desperately fighting to improve their seeding.
Nick Wright is a relatively well-known sports television personality. He is one of the three hosts of the basketball show First Things First, which is also hosted by Chris Broussard and mediated by Kevin Wildes.
During a recent episode of this show, Wright attacked the Nuggets star, stunning the NBA community.
Nick Wright Believes That Russell Westbrook Is Not a Part of “Winning Basketball”
In a nail-biting match between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Nuggets, Westbrook and his squad were up 139-138 on the Timberwolves. Although he got a timely steal with less than 20 seconds left in the game, Westbrook missed an open reverse layup.
To make matters worse, he was late getting back on defense and fouled Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who shot a three-pointer just before the buzzer sounded. Although the shot missed, the Timberwolves were awarded free throws and won the game at the line.
After the game had concluded, Wright was not ready to let Westbrook get away and went into attack mode against the Nuggets star.
“He won’t when it matters (Be reliable). What I’m telling you is he will be a net negative on winning playoff games. If I may, I am ready to say that he has not been able to contribute to winning basketball in nearly a decade. There have been five teams that have opted into the Russell Westbrook experience. One of them was smart because it was the one team that was like, hey, we just wanna maybe find a way to make it into the playoffs…”
Wright was referring to the Washington Wizards, where Westbrook spent a season with the team and unexpectedly managed to carry them to the playoffs. The Wizards were eliminated in the first round by the Philadelphia 76ers.
Wright went on to cite multiple failures that have plagued Westbrook’s past. After all, he had the opportunity to play alongside elite NBA superstars like Kevin Durant, LeBron James, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, and others, but he has yet to win an NBA title.
It might be considered unfair to claim that Westbrook has contributed to losing basketball for a decade. After all, he won the 2017 NBA MVP award and made league history by averaging a triple-double in four seasons.
Critics of the Nuggets star will be able to rejoice over his failures so far. At the same time, those who remember what a prime Westbrook was capable of doing will lament that he is constantly attacked and ridiculed by the media.