Cuban: Westbrook an All-Star, 'not a superstar'
OKLAHOMA CITY – Perennial All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook does not meet Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban’s standard for a superstar.
Cuban made a point before Monday’s Game 5 to refer to Kevin Durant as the “one superstar” on the Oklahoma City Thunder. What about Westbrook?
“I think he’s an All-Star but not a superstar,” Cuban said.
Westbrook, a five-time All-Star and four-time second-team All-NBA selection, averaged 23.5 points, 10.4 assists and 7.8 rebounds this season. His 18 triple-doubles were the most by any player in a season since Magic Johnson.
However, in Cuban’s opinion, the Thunder’s relative lack of success when Kevin Durant missed most of last season with a broken foot proved that Westbrook isn’t a superstar. The Thunder went 45-37 in 2014-15, when Westbrook averaged 28.1 points, 8.6 assists and 7.3 rebounds.
“You look at Dirk [Nowitzki],” Cuban said, citing his franchise player as an example of a superstar. “I’m not going to talk about other teams’ player, I guess other than what I just said, but Dirk for 15 years won 50 games no matter what. We put Moe, Larry and Curly next to him and we won 50 games. Russ is certainly an All-Star, but I consider Durant a superstar.
“When you look at Dirk, all those years until now, he carries teams to 50 wins. To me, that’s the sign of a superstar. It wasn’t until we got [Jason] Kidd that we had another Hall of Famer, and even J. Kidd was towards the end of his career. So for [11] years when Dirk won 50, that’s a superstar. There are only a few guys where you can put them on any team and they win 50 games. To me, that’s the definition of a superstar.”
