Please stop: Rockets’ Russell Westbrook is better than Damian Lillard

Although much of the basketball world constantly compares Houston Rockets guard Russell Westbrook to Damian Lillard, here’s why there’s not much of a comparison between the two.

In case you haven’t been paying attention of late, it’s become essentially impossible to hear Houston Rockets guard Russell Westbrook‘s name without hearing some sort of connection to Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard. Part of this is because the two have had a rivalry dating back to Westbrook’s days with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

This was even heightened when the two faced off in the opening round of the 2019 playoffs, as many were seeking to use that matchup as proof of which player is the better point guard between the two. The Thunder didn’t necessarily play well in that series, as then MVP candidate Paul George didn’t give an MVP-worthy performance.

But as we all know by now, Lillard made a series-ending 3-pointer from half court, which advanced the Blazers to the next round and sent Westbrook’s Thunder home early. After the game concluded, Paul George stated that Lillard took a “bad shot” in regards to Dame Dolla’s half-court heave, as opposed to citing his own bad play.

Those who were seeking to utilize that series as the determination of which player is better between Russ and Lillard used Lillard’s mid-court flick of the wrist as proof of why Lillard is a better player than Westbrook. But this ignores all of the evidence we’ve seen from Lillard and the Houston Rockets guard.

Since many seem to be blinded and unaware of the body of work between the two point guards, let’s provide a detailed statistical analysis of why this shouldn’t even be a debate. Instead of using one shot as the basis of the argument, we’ll use each component of the game and do a statistical comparison between Lillard and the Houston Rockets guard.

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