UCLA Legend is Revitalizing His NBA Career Before Our Eyes

Former UCLA Bruins star Russell Westbrook is in the midst of a rejuvenating NBA season with the Denver Nuggets.

Dec 28, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook (4) reacts from the bench in the second half against the Detroit Pistons at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

After last season, Russell Westbrook looked completely cooked.

He averaged just 6.3 points across six playoff games with the Los Angeles Clippers, shooting a paltry 26 percent from the floor in the process.

The showing continued to push narrative that Westbrook was not a valuable asset for a legitimate NBA contender, and based on his most recent results, it was hard to argue that point.

During the offseason, the former UCLA Bruins star signed with the Denver Nuggets at the request of Nikola Jokic, who was looking for some more help after being eliminated from the second round of the postseason last spring.

Many initially questioned the move based on Westbrook's tendency to dribble the air out of the basketball and look for his own shot a bit too much, but thus far, it appears that the Westbrook-Jokic tandem is a pretty solid match.

In fact, Westbrook is in the process of revitalizing his NBA career.

The 36-year-old is registering 12.2 points, 6.6 assists and 1.7 steals over 26.4 minutes per game on 45.4/31.5/64.2 shooting splits this season, and while those percentages don't look great, it's important to keep context in mind here.

Westbrook was never an efficient scorer. Not even at the height of his powers with the Oklahoma City Thunder. But this season, he owns a true-shooting percentage of 53.8 percent, which is his best mark since the 2016-17 campaign when he won the MVP award.

The nine-time All-Star looked particularly comfortable throughout the month of December, connecting on 51.8 percent of his field-goal attempts.

Westbrook's puzzling struggles from the free-throw line have been an issue for quite some time now, so at this point, that just is who he is.

But the fact that he has seen a bump in efficiency is actually a very positive sign and indicates that he may not be done after all.

The UCLA product still comes with his warts. He isn't a great perimeter shooter; he does have a rather questionable shot selection, and he still tends to gamble a bit too much defensively.

But given how much his athleticism has waned and how lost he looked at different junctures of the preceding several seasons, it's refreshing to see Westbrook somewhat back in his element again.

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