5 players you won’t believe ESPN says are better than Desmond Bane

No. 65 Russell Westbrook is better than Grizzlies star Desmond Bane, No. 68?

Surprisingly, Russell Westbrook ranked 65 on ESPN’s list.

When it comes to the negativity that Russell Westbrook has received since joining the Los Angeles Lakers, some of it was probably a little bit too far.

Regardless of the media being on his case for every air-balled jumper or sloppy turnover, he still managed to average 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 7.1 assists last season.

There is no denying that these stats look good when just looking at them on paper. When you dive into the film however, you see the abundance of questionable shots taken on a nightly basis, the efficiency problems (especially from the three point line), and most importantly the lack of effort shown on the defensive end at times.

According to B-ball index, Russell Westbrook ranked in the 33.6% in on-ball defense last season. The advanced numbers also show that that his stats really didn’t have an impact on winning basketball games in the slightest. His LEBRON (Luck-adjusted player Estimate using a Box prior Regularized On-off) was a negative 1. This stat shows how much better or worse a player is worth compared to league average per 100 possessions, and a negative 1 places Westbrook in the 16.8% amongst every player in the league.

Westbrook also shot extremely poorly from the three point line, as he shot 29.8% on 3.4 attempts per game. Adding on to his struggles shooting the ball, he was the sixth-least efficient midrange jump shooter with a minimum of 200 attempts in 2021-22 according to @NBA_University on Twitter, as he shot 38.3% (227 attempts).

I know Russell Westbrook has had a more than successful career including an MVP award, nine All-Star appearances, and nine All-NBA appearances only starting the list of his accolades, but to say that he is better than Desmond Bane going into next year is laughable for lack of a better word.

At this point in both of their careers, Desmond Bane is a better player on both sides of the ball, and should be ranked higher than Russell Westbrook without a question.