Kanter jokes Westbrook 'not leaving any of the rebounds for the bigs'
The nightly superhuman feats accomplished by Russell Westbrook is not lost on teammates.
Westbrook is averaging a triple-double into December thanks in large part to a spike in his rebounding prowess. The points and assists come easily to a point guard like Westbrook, but it's almost unheard of for a 6-foot-4 player to average double-digit rebounds.
Related: 3 reasons Russell Westbrook can maintain his triple-double pace
Oklahoma City Thunder center Enes Kanter is so taken aback by Westbrook's tenacity on the glass that he turned to humor to contextualize his teammate's performances.
"I need to start boxing him out," Kanter joked to Erik Horne of The Oklahoman. "He’s not leaving any of the rebounds for the bigs."
Westbrook isn't just outdoing his own centers, his 10.5 board average ranks 11th league-wide. He's grabbing more rebounds than the likes of DeMarcus Cousins and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Teammates are also making contributions around Westbrook. OKC leads the NBA in rebounding, which forms the basis of their offense. They push the tempo off defensive rebounds and swarm the offensive glass for transition and second-chance points to make up for their otherwise anemic halfcourt offense.