Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is finally willing to admit that Russell Westbrook might be a superstar. It just took Westbrook averaging a triple-double for half a season on the playoff-bound Oklahoma City Thunder for him to soften his stance.
"If he's not a superstar, he's the closest thing to it," Cuban said, via ESPN's Tim MacMahon.
Come on, just say it! Westbrook is clearly one of the best players in the league, and, Cuban's original definition of a superstar -- someone who can carry a team to 50 wins -- might apply to Westbrook by the end of the season.
Note: Earlier in the season, Cuban said Westbrook was "putting up the numbers of a superstar," but stuck with his definition. This was after Mavs coach Rick Carlisle and then-Thunder forward Kevin Durant publicly criticized his comments last April, with Durant famously calling Cuban an idiot. Maybe next time he's asked about it, he'll have found another creative way to not quite call him a superstar.
One more note: Cuban does not think Westbrook is the MVP of this season so far. He said that, even though he hates the Houston Rockets, he'd have to give that honor to James Harden.
