Generally speaking, I think a lot of writers try to ignore ESPN First Take analyst Skip Bayless’ existence. He’s become the poster child for what a lot of ESPN programming has become: two people sitting across the table yelling at each other. Having said that, one of Bayless’ reoccurring rants is that Russell Westbrook should never, ever, ever shoot more than Kevin Durant. He thinks Westbrook is a reckless, shoot first point guard. As Darnell Mayberry writes, Durant doesn’t like Bayless’ criticism of his point guard and I don’t think he really likes Bayless at all.
“That guy doesn’t know a thing about basketball,” Durant said of Bayless before the Thunder faced Memphis on Monday night.
We’re worse when I take more shots,” Durant said. “Like I said, that guy doesn’t know a thing. I don’t think he watches us. I think he just looks at the stats. And traditionally, a point guard is not supposed to take more shots than everybody else on the team. But we’re better when he does do that and he’s aggressive. And I’m better when I’m out there facilitating, rebounding, defending and being more efficient on my shots with less shots.”
Mayberry also pointed out that not only are the Thunder 20-4 when Westbrook outshoots Durant, but they beat the crap out of teams, outpointing them by an average of 12 points per game. Bayless reacted on Twitter first by saying he wanted Kevin Durant to come on First Take and debate with Bayless. I’m too young to know what kind of writer Skip Bayless was coming as a columnist in Dallas and San Jose and don’t care enough about him to find out. At this point it’s clear Skip Bayless is all about making Skip Bayless more famous. He knows being the loudest Tim Tebow supporter on the planet makes him more famous and he knows trying to pick fights with All-World athletes will make him more famous. He’s not uneducated, I actually think all he does is watch sports (it’s his job afterall), but I think coming up with a great sports opinion matters less to him than being famous.
Bayless’ criticism of Westbrook isn’t anything we haven’t heard before. He can get shot happy and he isn’t a true point guard in the traditional sense. He’s also a top 15 player and the Thunder have the best record in the West, so I’d say Durant, Westbrook and Co. have figured out their dynamic pretty well. As Mayberry points out, the Thunder does alright with Westbrook shooting more than Durant.
