Free to Do What He Wants, Russell Westbrook Embraces Total Chaos Mode

In just one transaction, Russell Westbrook experienced both a devastating offseason and an outstanding one. Westbrook lost his MVP teammate Kevin Durant to his team's biggest rival, a Golden State Warriors team already flush with enough talent to set an NBA record for wins without him. On the flip side, Westbrook gained the role of a lifetime: without having to defer to Durant, Westbrook has been given the freedom to operate unlike any other player in the league.

Westbrook explored this newfound liberty in his latest commercial, which has all the subtlety of the words "3-1" written on the eyes of a Crying Jordan.

0.2 HITS!!!! @jumpman23 #WhyNot pic.twitter.com/WCFrAwEqgo
— Russell Westbrook (@russwest44) October 27, 2016

This, of course, is par for the course for Westbrook, whose basketball ethos is chaos. The possibilities for him both to dominate and damage are endless and often linked, and Durant's departure just shines more light on those traits. To accept the raw power that results in Westbrook's 50-point triple-double against the Suns, you have to accept the abandon that leads to 10 turnovers against the Clippers, and then accept that the same recklessness led to game-saving defensive plays and drives in both games. The mentality that allows him to pull off-balance 27-footers with 19 on the shot clock is the same one that allows him to throw down dunks so ferocious that the other team's owner loses his mind.

Westbrook excited opposing owners with his slams pic.twitter.com/Jq9RQ0HCjN
— StreetHistory (@streethistory) November 3, 2016

The numbers speak for themselves. In his post-Durant home debut, Westbrook posted the first triple-double in NBA history with at least 50 points by someone under 6'4", taking more shot attempts (44) than anyone not named Kobe has in a single game in the last 15 years. Through four games, Westbrook comfortably leads the NBA both in usage rate (43.8 percent, per Basketball-Reference) and assist rate (60.9 percent), both numbers that would be NBA records.

It's sacrilegious to stretch four-game samples into record-breaking projections, but that's what Westbrook forces us to do: he forces us to re-assess what we think is possible. Think about how smart it seems that NBA teams are resting players early in the season; now think about how ridiculous it might be to think the Thunder would ever do that with Russell Westbrook. Convention, both modern and traditional, goes to hell. Can he average a triple-double this season? Probably not, but…maybe? Can he break the modern record for points per game and shots per game? Probably, but…will he? Could he play all 48 minutes at some point this season? Maybe the better question is, how many times?

It's hard to imagine what could slow him down. He's a bull doing ballet with the ball in his hands, comfortable flying to the rim in isolation, or picking his spots in the pick-and-roll with Steven Adams (and already in the pick-and-pop with rookie Domantas Sabonis). His pull-up shooting will probably set all kinds of wonky NBA analytical records this season, both good and bad.

But to Westbrook, pretty much every sliver of daylight qualifies as a lane, and if he finds one with a full head of steam…uh, you know, watch out.

When defenses overplay, Billy Donovan has thrown in a wrinkle or two off the ball to take advantage of bad defenses—on a totally unrelated note, here's a Westbrook-Adams pick-and-roll against the Suns:

Though he's known more for his downhill drives, Westbrook is also posting up a ton this year, with two common end results: a pass to an open teammate following a double-team, or a face-up jumper if opponents don't throw a second defender at him. Just look at what happens in this sequence: in the first quarter, T.J. McConnell is powerless against his baseline spin (and upset nobody had his back):

In the second, Westbrook makes them pay for overhelping with a dish to Adams for an easy dunk:

The Clippers represented the first true test of Westbrook's dominance, but it'll be nothing like Durant's Warriors. Both Durant and Westbrook have tried to downplay the personal significance of this one game, which, okay, sure. Aside from the personal angle, Westbrook's play falls into some of Golden State's common traps: the Warriors last season baited opponents into more isolation shot attempts than any other team by a significant margin, and were one of the league's best team isolation defenders, allowing just 0.78 points per possession on isolation plays, per NBA.com's stats database. Stephen Curry isn't an all-world defender, but the Warriors switch seamlessly throughout most of their lineup, and if no one else is creating or hitting shots for the Thunder, there won't be much Westbrook can do to stem the tide. The Warriors' biggest weakness early has been controlling the glass, so if Adams can stay on the floor against the Warriors when they go small, that could open up some opportunities for Westbrook to create.

But regardless of the outcome of one game, Westbrook is already on the path to a psychological victory. In Oklahoma City, Russell Westbrook can do anything he damn well wants on the basketball court, and through four games, that's proven to be as amazing as it is prolific as it is expected. No team has ever relied on one player to be so dominant, and no one player has ever been so up to the task.