黃彩虹

It's been a long time since anyone's feelings about Russell Westbrook topped out at “mild interest”—it would be like feeling mild interest toward an avalanche（雪崩）. But this is someone at TD Garden in 2010， watching an amazing new talent. Surely there is someplace fun and in no way dangerous to one's reason itself！

Almost everyone thought that Westbrook， Durant， and James Harden will form an unbreakable core that will dominate the NBA for a decade or more， but still there were very little chance to see what could possibly stop them.

Maybe he was...too good？ Anyway it started to seem like he was taking shots that should have gone to Durant， but he missed a lot of them， and even though he'd make up for it by， say， shouldering his way through three defenders and finishing a seemingly suicidal jump with three hands in his face and 16 seconds left on the shot clock. It was concerning.

In national discourse of Russell， a thread of mistrust began to spread， like poison in a water glass. Sportswriters in Oklahoma started writing columns criticizing him. Then Durant left for Golden State. Westbrook resigned， and at that moment， everything changed， at least for Thunder fans. OKC fans had spent the better part of a decade worshipping KD but not fully trusting Russell， only to realize they'd gotten it exactly backward.

After losing Harden in 2012 and then Durant in 2016， Thunder fans were starting to worry that the early success was a mirage（海市蜃樓）. Add to that the general feeling in Oklahoma that the state always gets overlooked， and you can see how Westbrook's decision to stick with the Thunder resonated（發(fā)出共鳴） not just athletically but culturally. To put it simply： He made Oklahoma feel like it mattered.

The MVP season was， in many respects， the most important moment of modern Westbrook fandom（粉絲圈）. Westbrook was playing unforgettable basketball， and it was clear that OKC was never going to make a deep play-off run with him using the ball like that. The result was an apotheosis（發(fā)展頂峰） of extremely pessimistic happiness like nothing people ever see in sports.

It was exciting because we were thrilled to see what Westbrook could do now that he was fully unleashed（突然爆發(fā)）. It was pessimistic because we knew deep down that it was a sports version of the Charge of the Light Brigade. It was dramatic and frustrating and silly and extreme， like everything involving Westbrook.

In a way it ran against the whole purpose of basketball， if the purpose is to win championships， but what image would you rather remember， Westbrook fighting the ocean single-handedly or Harden technically not traveling on yet another stepback 3？

There are undoubtedly more contradictions to come， but at this point， it feels as though every previous layer of Westbrook fandom is operating at exactly the same time. The wild heat of the MVP season has cooled off a bit—his scoring is down 10 points per game， which clearly represents his giving in to the victory of basketball matches—and even though Paul George is very， very good， I think most Thunder fans have come to terms with the fact that the team， as presently constructed， will never be a serious power.

And Russell still means the world to Oklahoma. Rooting for Russell means rooting for someone who will do more than you thought was possible but will ultimately let you down.

Question

Do you know more about Russell Westbrook？Do you like him？Why？