It’s time for OKC to break up the band

You can bank on the same moment occurring in almost every Oklahoma City Thunder game: Time running from the clock, Russell Westbrook with the ball in his hands while Kevin Durant calls for it from his spot on the wing. Westbrook gets that scowl—his brow furrows, his eyes practically turn red. It’s the moment when the all-star point guard decides he’s going to take over the game and will his team to a win.

It’s also the moment he gets tunnel vision and forgets—or forgets to care—that the greatest scorer of this generation (and that might be underselling it) is standing just a few feet away.

Because Westbrook is an all-star and—particularly in those moments—one determined SOB, his hero-ball often works out, resulting in either a made basket or a trip to the free-throw line. But even then, you can’t help but shake your head.

That was certainly the case in Game 4 on Saturday night in Memphis, when a cold-shooting Durant was effectively phased out by Westbrook in the dying seconds of a one possession game—one that OKC narrowly won.

It may seem strange to question or criticize the Westbrook and the Thunder in the aftermath of a huge playoff road win over a Grizzlies team that looks like it could compete in the Conference Finals. But that’s the thing with the 2013-14 Thunder: Even when things turn out, this Oklahoma City team, and the balance between its two superstars, just isn’t working.

So far in these playoffs, no player has attempted more crunch-time field goals than Westbrook, who’s taken 7.7 per game (for perspective: that’s more than Portland’s Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge combined) and made only 21.7 percent of them . Durant, meanwhile, is second with 6.0, and convering a tidy 50 percent of them.

Maybe the blame lies with coach Scott Brooks and his “everybody stand around and wait” offence that likely nudges the point guard into feeling he has to don a cape. Maybe it’s Durant’s willingness to let Westbrook take over late. Maybe it’s Tony Allen’s suffocating defense, denying KD the ball. Maybe it’s Westbrook’s seeming insistence that he is Durant’s equal.

Or maybe it’s time to break up the band.

“There are two players in the
playoffs,” says former NBA coach Butch Carter, “that as good as they may be, are a distraction to their teams’ winning because of the way they play. And that’s Lance Stephenson in Indiana, and Russell Westbrook.”

That’s not exactly glowing company for the OKC star. Stephenson’s first-seeded Pacers are on the brink of elimination with the guard’s flawed notions of hero ball on display. But Westbrook’s role on the Thunder is considerably greater than Stephenson’s in Indiana, and his influence on his team’s success is massive. “Westbrook clearly has a strong personality.” Carter says. “He thinks he’s supposed to get his shots, even when he’s not making them.”

That mindset in and of itself is not a problem—you want your players to feel that way. But, in reality, there are only a handful of perimeter scorers in today’s NBA who deserve to shoot the ball regardless how they’re playing.

Durant is at the top of that list. Westbrook is not on it*. It’s why it was so painful to watch Durant get passed over by his teammate on Saturday, despite having his worst shooting performance of the post-season. Even when Durant misses three straight shots (as he did), he should still get the ball back. Simple as that.

It’s not a knock on Westbrook so much as a nod to Durant’s sublime ability. The NBA’s MVP simply can’t be on a team where he isn’t taking the majority of the big shots. That’s the case in OKC right now, and it’s looking more and more like the only solution is a trade.

There are countless comparisons to make between Russ/KD and other duos that were ultimately too big to coexist: Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell, Zach Morris and A.C. Slater, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page in the Yardbirds, and on and on. But the best parallel lies in the story of the original Van Halen lineup and its leaders, singer David Lee Roth and guitarist Eddie Van Halen.

Hear me out:

Together, Roth and EVH were a killer pair, and Van Halen took the music world by storm when they took their act public. The band’s two stars were the perfect compliment to each other, Roth’s insane bravado more than compensating for Eddie’s quiet genius.

For a short time, they were arguably the biggest and best band on the planet, with 1984’s “Jump!” hitting No. 1 on the charts (akin to OKC’s trip to the Finals three years ago). As a result, both were major stars in the industry; Roth was the uber-showman, an underappreciated star who made up for what he lacked in technical ability with his outta-this-world flair (Westbrook and his freakish athleticism). EVH, meanwhile, was a once-in-a-lifetime player, a prodigy who redefined what an electric guitar could do (Durant showing us that a six-foot-11 guy can be a lethal perimeter scorer).

But when they made it big, Roth lost perspective—OK, he probably never had any in the first place—and became convinced he was Eddie’s equal, saying on multiple occasions something to the effect of: “Van Halen without David Lee Roth is just a name.” The two fought relentlessly (though Russ and Durant have publicly had each others backs, you can liken their inability to play together on the court to one prolonged scrap).

The band split before it ever reached its true potential, and Roth was the one to go. And if the Thunder do pull the trigger on a trade it will be Westbrook who is sent packing. There is only one Eddie Van Halen, just as there’s only one Kevin Durant. For Van Halen, we know what happened: the band brought in Sammy Hagar, who lacked Roth’s guts but recognized his place in the group, and the band had its biggest commercial success.

“Diamond” Dave Roth, meanwhile, had a couple of mediocre solo hits and penned the single greatest memoir of all-time, but was never nearly as relevant.

And that’s where I think we’re heading with Oklahoma City.

Fact is, hierarchy is almost everything in the NBA. And players, coaches and front office staff need to be keenly aware of that in order to win a championship. Westbrook is a great player and one of the most exciting in the league to watch. But he’s no Kevin Durant. Westbrook and the Thunder’s failure to recognize Durant for who he is will inevitably lead to the breakup of what could have been a great dynasty. Trading James Harden was the first straw. The needless jockeying between Westbrook and Durant will be the last.

*The rest of the list, in case you were wondering, looks like this:

(On the bubble: DeMar DeRozan)