Draymond Green: Russell Westbrook Earned 2017 MVP by Carrying ‘Horses--t’ Thunder

Amid some revisionist history about how deserving Russell Westbrook was of being named NBA MVP for the 2016-17 season, Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green has spoken out in support of the voting from that year. 

Speaking to The Athletic's Sam Amick, Green said he "had no problem" with Westbrook's MVP win because he carried an Oklahoma City Thunder team that was "complete horses--t" into the playoffs. 

Green brought up Westbrook's MVP season to support the argument that Stephen Curry should be included in the conversation this year. 

During the 2016-17 season, Westbrook joined Oscar Robertson (1961-62) as the only players in NBA history to average a triple-double for an entire campaign. He led the league in scoring average (31.6 points per game), along with 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists per contest. 

His primary supporting cast that season included Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis before they became All-Stars, as well as Enes Kanter, Steven Adams and Andre Roberson. 

Westbrook beat out James Harden, Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James in MVP voting that year. He was also helped out by the narrative of leading the Thunder to the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference after Kevin Durant left to sign with the Warriors. 

Some advanced metrics showed Harden and Leonard were more valuable than Westbrook that season. Westbrook was third among that trio with 13.1 win shares, trailing Harden (15) and Leonard (13.6). 

Even in the immediate aftermath of the voting, there wasn't a strong consensus around Westbrook's MVP win. 

Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports said he would have voted for Harden if the Houston Rockets had been the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. (They were third in the West, behind the Warriors and San Antonio Spurs.)

The accomplishment of Westbrook's triple-double season looks less special now because he's done it three more times in the past four seasons.

Oklahoma City lost to Harden's Rockets in the first round of the 2017 playoffs in five games.