Rick Carlisle disagrees with Cuban: Russell Westbrook is a superstar
Mavs owner Mark Cuban said Russell Westbrook isn't a superstar. Dallas coach Rick Carlisle disagrees.
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1 min read
Before the Dallas Mavericks were eliminated from the playoffs by the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 on Monday, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said that he doesn't consider Russell Westbrook a superstar. Westbrook then scored 36 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished nine assists in the Thunder's 118-104 win. Afterward, Mavs coach Rick Carlisle told reporters he disagrees with his boss.
"If you want to get Mark in here to talk to you guys, you're welcome to," Carlisle said. "There's three superstars out there: Westbrook, [Kevin Durant and [Dirk] Nowitzki. Those guys are, I mean, Dirk's an all-time great player, that's been proven, and both Durant and Westbrook are destined. I just think they're that good. And I thought Westbrook played beautiful basketball this year. I don't think there were many people out there in the basketball world that thought that he'd be able to turn his game into both a scoring and distributing game. He was special to watch all year."
Carlisle then credited Westbrook for leading the league in triple-doubles -- he had 18, which tied Magic Johnson's mark for the most since the NBA-ABA merger. Everybody knows Westbrook is phenomenal, and this little episode says less about him than about Cuban and Carlisle. Cuban loves to have fun with the media, while Carlisle prefers to play it straight and compliment opponents.
Thunder coach Billy Donovan, to no one's surpirse, does put Westbrook in the superstar category.
"I didn't see it or hear it," Donovan said. "But I'll tell you this: I'm really, really happy he’s on my team. I wouldn't trade him for anybody. So I mean there's no question Russell Westbrook is one of the best players in this league. There is no question about that at all, and I'm happy I get a chance to watch him compete every night.
"To me he’s a superstar, as good as anybody in this league," Donovan continued. "And I feel, as a coach getting to be around him every day, he's a superstar person. He's a great guy and he's a great competitor and he's a great teammate. So there's a lot of things about him besides what he does between the lines, I think, that make him really special."
In the series, Westbrook averaged 26 points, 11.2 assists, 7.2 rebounds and 1.6 steals, shooting 46.3 percent and 37.9 percent from deep. Those are superstar numbers, aren't they?
