Carmelo Anthony: Russell Westbrook 'Steals' Rebounds from Thunder Teammates

Russell Westbrook is trying to average a triple-double for the second season in a row, and even his teammates admit the point guard hogs rebounds.  

Carmelo Anthony provided his thoughts on Westbrook's rebounding Tuesday, per Royce Young of ESPN.com:

"Sometimes, I wanna fight him a little bit and push him out the way," he joked to Moke Hamilton of ThunderWire.

While Westbrook critics will use this as ammo, Anthony made it clear that he doesn't mind the guard coming back to get the ball.

"I don't think nobody thinks twice about that. As long as we get the rebound, I don't think we're worried about that. Like individually, we're not like, 'Damn, I gotta get this rebound' or 'I gotta rebound more,' as long as we get the rebound, we're all cool with that."

Last season, Westbrook became the first person since Oscar Robertson in 1962 to average a triple-double, finishing with 31.6 points, 10.4 assists and 10.7 rebounds per game. His unique production helped him bring home the league's MVP award.

While his scoring is down in 2017-18 to 25.6 PPG, he is also averaging 10.1 APG and 9.9 RPG. He needs 16 rebounds in Wednesday's season finale against the Memphis Grizzlies to become the first person ever to average a triple-double in two different seasons.

Meanwhile, Anthony is averaging the fewest rebounds since his third year in the NBA, while Paul George has his fewest in a full season since his second year. As long as the rest of the team doesn't mind, however, it's hard to complain about Westbrook's strategy of padding the stats.