Russell Westbrook: 'I can't win games by myself'
With Kevin Durant expected to miss at least six weeks recovering from a foot fracture, the basketball world is waiting to see what Russell Westbrook has in store.
But the Oklahoma City Thunder point guard doesn't want the bulk of the attention.
"It's not about me. It's about our team," Westbrook said Monday, according to ESPN's Royce Young.
"I can't win games by myself. I can't do anything by myself. I kind of want to take the attention off me and put it more on the team. Everybody keeps asking what I'm going to do and how I'm going to change. I think it's more about our team and what we can do."
Despite his All-Star and All-NBA credentials, Westbrook has often been criticized for not deferring to Durant enough on the court, and for playing somewhat out of control.
Over the last three seasons, only Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant have posted more field goal attempts per 100 possessions than Westbrook, according to Basketball-Reference. In that time, Westbrook has posted a less-than-stellar Effective Field Goal Percentage of 45.5.
Naturally, many expect Westbrook to take on an even larger role with the reigning MVP out of the lineup to start the season. But the 25-year-old said his role will not change while Durant is sidelined.
Head coach Scott Brooks agrees.
"We're not asking Russell to be a 35-point scorer," Brooks said.
"Obviously he's going to be a scorer because he can and he does that at a high level. There will be games he might have 20, there will be games he'll have 30 but there will also be some games where he has 15. He just has to continue to lead like he has been and that's good enough. Everybody has to step up. It's not one guy. You're not going to replace Kevin with one guy. It's the team getting better as a group is what I'm looking to replace him with."
Westbrook, who missed 36 games last season after not missing a single regular season game over his first five years in the NBA, also mentioned that he knows how Durant feels right now.
"If anybody knows what it feels like, I would know," Westbrook said. "I talked to Kevin, he's in good spirits. He's going to get back as soon as he can to help us out."
Durant has missed just 16 games over his seven-year NBA career.