Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey Fires Jab at Russell Westbrook

Houston Chronicle The Houston Rockets' general manager still favors James Harden over Russell Westbrook.

Russell Westbrook may now be a member of the Houston Rockets, but Daryl Morey still favors James Harden.

While the Rockets general manager conducted an interview with Sam Amick of The Athletic, the topic was all about Westbrook. Morey went into detail regarding the trade of Westbrook from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Rockets, along with Westbrook’s fit in Houston, all the way to the topic of the 2016-17 season when Westbrook edged Harden for the MVP award.

Needless to say, the vocal general manager didn’t hold back his opinion — or his bias in his answer: Harden should have won the MVP award over Westbrook that season.

Amick: It’s still kind of surreal that he’s playing for your team. But I also have some comical memories about coming to town in the (2016-17) season when he won MVP, and you and (former Rockets executive/current Minnesota GM) Gersonn (Rosas) giving me a hard time because of who I voted for that year (Westbrook)…

“I would still give you a hard time on that. For me, James has been the MVP for multiple years now. I don’t mind James losing the MVP, but I don’t like him losing it to, you know, simple labels (laughs again), which I felt like happened that year. It was never anything against the player. It was really more like – maybe not you personally – but the way many (voters) justified their pick that year I thought was a departure from how it had been selected in the past. It really had more to do with how people were viewing it than the player, so…”

Morey makes sure to watch his words here — after all, Westbrook is a current member of the Rockets and is absolutely central to whether or not they reach their goals of winning a championship.

However, he clearly still favors Harden over Westbrook — even on a topic that ended almost three years ago — due to the fact that Harden has been a member of the Rockets for the past seven years.

Check out this tweet from Morey towards the end of the 2016-17 season, criticizing the logic for Westbrook winning the MVP award that season due to his triple-doubles.

Westbrook Simply Had a More Notable Season Than Harden

Westbrook had become just the second player in NBA history to average a triple-double during a single season. In fact, he became the first since Oscar Robertson accomplished the feat during the 1962-63 season.

Needless to say, Westbrook has now done it in three consecutive seasons — a feat that no one has come close to matching.

As good as Harden was during the 2016-17 season — he averaged 29.1 points, 11.2 assists and 8.1 rebounds per game — it simply didn’t match the historic feat of Westbrook’s season.

Sorry, Daryl.

Westbrook Comments on First Game Versus Thunder

Westbrook is already about to face his former team, the Thunder, on Monday night.

Unsurprisingly, Westbrook kept it short and sweet regarding his former team, basically saying it’s just another game.

“I play the same way every night, regardless of who’s on the floor. I got friends on every team. Obviously the difference is that this is my first time playing Oklahoma,” Westbrook told reporters.

The Rockets will look for their second straight win when they host the Thunder, who are coming off of a massive 120-92 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night.