ESPN: Stupidity at its highest

Recently, I found a video of ESPN's Ric Bucher's Power Ranking of the NBA's Top 7 players where he has Kobe at number 1. Obviously, Kobe is a marketing machine and a cash cow for their awful and sagging ratings which is why he is there. However, the biggest surprise and insult to the intelligence of fans like myself was how Bucher left Kevin Durant off of the list altogether and put his sidekick Russell Westbrook!!! Westbrook? Are you kidding me? One of the BIGGEST shotjackers in the league!!! Kevin Durant is the BIGGEST reason why Oklahoma City is having their tremendous success, because the team becomes better when they revolve their system around him. Westbrook was ranked no. 7, while KD was left off of the list completely. Bucher's lame excuse was "Well, we know that Kevin Durant is a scorer and he has lead the league in scoring, but Westbrook can do more at his position." If that was the case, then why is it that Durant's only competition at Small Forward is LeBron. Westbrook is a terrific playmaker and can slash like a two-guard, but at the end of the day, it is about winning games, and who gives you the best chance to win. For the Thunder, Kevin Durant is the obvious answer. I can name at least 5 point guards who I could take over Westbrook:

1. Derrick Rose
2. Chris Paul
3. Rajon Rondo
4. Derron Williams
5. Stephen Curry
6. Russell Westbrook

Top 2 Small Forwards:
1. Kevin Durant
2. LeBron James

As I remember, Westbrook was THE reason as to why they lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals, because of his missed shots and turnovers that ultimately cost the Thunder their first trip to the Finals against Miami. Westbrook threw so many bricks, he could have built a new stadium by himself. This ranking was a complete insult, and I had to address it right away. Here is the side by side comparison and you tell me who you would build your team around if you were OKC:

Kevin Durant:
PPG: 26.5
RPG: 6.9
APG: 3.3
BPG: 1.2
SPG: 1.1
FG%: 50%
3-PT%: 36%
FT%: 84%
MPG: 36.1

Durant's Efficiency Rating (EFF) is +24.93
Westbrook's Efficency Rating is +18.87

Russell Westbrook:
PPG: 20.5
RPG: 5.0
APG: 5.5
BPG: 0.1
SPG: 1.7
FG%: 45%
3-PT%: 28%
FT%: 80%
MPG: 33.3

You cannot look at me with a serious face and say you would take Russell over KD. That is like saying Bob Cousy was a better player and more valuable than Bill Russell, or saying Clyde Drexler was better than Hakeem, Kobe over Shaq, Parker over Duncan, etc. Cousy, Kobe, Parker and Drexler got their rings BECAUSE of those guys. You could even throw in Magic if you want to, but he carried more weight on his team. Their roles were to be the sidekick and make sure their franchise centerpiece got the ball. That is Westbrook's primary role. He is the POINT GUARD!!! As the PG, you are suppose to make plays and make your team better!! The more he shoots, the more he kills his team!! In '73 when Tiny Archibald led the league in SCORING, his team won only 44 games!! He KILLED his team, because of that!! The more Westbrook has the ball the lower OKC's chances are of winning!! OKC is a great team with a huge upside with rings in the future, and the only way that they can go forward is to feed KD the ball. Durant's points are down because they are getting James Harden & co. more involved, but he needs to be the key centerpiece!! The man is having an MVP level season again, and he is even closer despite a drop in points while making others better. Kobe is on the downside, Wade & LeBron are inconsistent, Nowitzki has slipped, which leaves even more room for Durantula to win the award. You could trade Westbrook for D-Rose, CP3 or Rondo and the stock would not drop one bit. If you want to agree or not, that is fine by me. With that said, KD gets MY vote for MVP!!!