(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Only three games remain in the 2023-24 NBA regular season for the Los Angeles Clippers, with Kawhi Leonard and company currently sporting a record of 51-28 and sitting in fourth place in the Western Conference standings while trying to hold off the red-hot Dallas Mavericks who sit two games back.
Although things got off to a rocky start for the Clippers after they traded for superstar guard James Harden, the team was able to figure things out over the course of the regular season and will head into the NBA playoffs as a team that could go the distance in the West.
Interestingly enough, one player who has made a significant impact on the team ever since returning from having hand surgery is Russell Westbrook, who has helped the team win seven out of their last nine games with him back on the basketball floor.
Westbrook has not only helped the Clippers stay in the fourth seed, but he also believes he’s the best bench player in the league right now, via NBACentral.
“Ain’t nobody better than me coming off the bench in this league,” Westbrook said.
The Clippers are 7-2 since Russell Westbrook returned from his hand surgery
“Ain’t nobody better than me coming off the bench, in this league.”
(Via https://t.co/zeOSo2zAul) pic.twitter.com/UqvtO91cad
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 10, 2024
With Westbrook presumably being a first-ballot Hall of Famer and having won NBA MVP before, he should be the best bench player in the league because no other player with his resume is playing a reserve role right now in the league.
Although Westbrook has always been reluctant to be a bench player, he definitely fits in that role with the Clippers and could be a big reason why the team is a legitimate title contender during the upcoming NBA playoffs.
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