Russell Westbrook Beginning to Redefine His Point Guard Reputation

The refrains were common, and they were loud. 

Russell Westbrook doesn't pass. Russell Westbrook is a ball hog. Russell Westbrook is too selfish down the stretch. Russell Westbrook doesn't play an efficient brand of ball. 

You can now consider those takes a thing of the past—pieces of a narrative that have died since Russell Westbrook took over as the Oklahoma City Thunder's alpha dog with Kevin Durant sidelined due to a sprained right ankle. 

Westbrook had been on a tear, but his individual rampage evolved into something outrageous on Christmas Day in the Thunder's 114-106 win over the San Antonio Spurs. 

In 35 minutes, Westbrook finished with 34 points (14-of-28 shooting), 11 assists, five rebounds and five steals. According to Basketball-Reference.com, a line consisting of at least 30 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and five steals has now cropped up just 38 times since 1985 after Westbrook's tantalizing display. 

It is also the first time in his career that Westbrook has produced a 30-10-5-5 line and just the 13th time he dropped 30 points and 10 assists in a regular-season game, per Basketball-Reference. 

And for those of you keeping score at home, Westbrook is on an unprecedented scoring tear, according to ESPN Stats & Info: 

At one point, it felt like we had to question if the Thunder would be able to crash the NBA's postseason party. Now, thanks to Westbrook, it's simply a matter of when.  

Following Oklahoma City's win over San Antonio (its first on the road against a .500 team this season, per ESPN Stats & Info), the Thunder (14-16) are now just two games back of the eighth-seeded Phoenix Suns. 

But this rapid renaissance wouldn't have been possible without a reformed Westbrook.

Although he's still playing as angry as ever, Oklahoma City's floor general has redefined what makes him so dangerous.

Remember those refrains of selfishness? Well, entering Thursday's contest, Westbrook's assist percentage clocked in at an unthinkable 49.9, per Basketball-Reference. Essentially, that means Westbrook is assisting on nearly half of Oklahoma City's buckets when he's on the floor.

Not since Steve Nash in 2011-12 has a player qualified for the league's minutes leaderboard and finished with an assist percentage higher than 49. In fact, only six players (Nash, Andre Miller, Chris Paul, Magic Johnson, John Stockton and Rajon Rondo) in league history have accomplished the feat, according to Basketball-Reference.

For a supposed score-first point guard, that's not bad company to keep. Even if it is only temporary. 

When he is scoring, though, Westbrook's shown a relentless determination to bolt past defenders and get below the free-throw line with an eye on the rim. 

His shot chart from Thursday's win indicates as much: 

Credit: NBA.com/Stats

Reckless? Not quite.

Although Westbrook still enjoys his fair share of mid-range jumpers, he appears to be picking spots and scanning defenses with an acuity we haven't seen before. This season, Westbrook is shooting better than 50 percent between 16 feet and the three-point line after knocking down 41.5 percent of those same attempts a year ago. 

However, the most striking and encouraging component of Westbrook's game has been his willingness to drive to the cup. 

Seemingly personifying the star power-up in Mario Kart each time he romps down the floor, Westbrook is converting nearly 60 percent of his shots within three feet, per Basketball-Reference, attempts which comprise more than 41 percent of his total output. 

Last season, those same looks accounted for just 33.1 percent of his total attempts, which represented the second-lowest total of his career. 

The other big change has to do with the three-point line. 

Season	0-3 Feet	3-10 Feet	10-16 Feet	16 Feet-Three-Point Line	Three-Pointers
2013-14	33.1%	9.1%	13.7%	17.1%	27.1%
2014-15	41.4%	10.4%	13.3%	17.8%	17.2%

As seen above, Westbrook's percentage of three-point attempts has plummeted by 10 percent. And while his efficiency hasn't exactly improved, it's nice to see him avoiding stubborn tendencies that would marginalize his biggest strengths. 

"I need to stop taking as many as I'm taking, to tell you the truth," Westbrook said of his three-point shooting, according to ESPN.com's Royce Young. "I'm going to take those down as the season goes along."

Westbrook added the following, per Young: "It's not always a great shot for myself or my team. So I've got to do a better job of taking those out. My advantage is attacking, regardless of who's in front of me. That's my advantage. And I've got to use my advantage to help my team and help myself."

The fact that Westbrook attempted just one three over the course of 34 minutes against San Antonio helped make Thursday's performance the perfect microcosmic example of his reformed ways.  

Shots will understandably and rightfully decrease when Durant returns, but so long as Westbrook continues to distribute and attack with this efficient mindset, there will be no reason to knock his style of play any longer.