Kim Klement, USA TODAY Sports

Jason Kidd Says Russell Westbrook Is The Mike Tyson Of Basketball

We all know that Russell Westbrook is among the more aggresive dunkers in this league. Westbrook tends to punish the rim as if it was an opponent in the boxing ring. This comparison seems to also float around in the head of Milwaukee Bucks head coach Jason Kidd, who compared Westbrook to one of the greatest boxers of all time, Mike Tyson.

Kidd shared his thoughts on the reigning MVP with Nick Freidell (ESPN), before the Bucks’ game against the Thunder last night.

“He is the [Mike] Tyson of basketball,” Kidd said of Westbrook, prior to Tuesday’s game between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Oklahoma City Thunder. “When the jump ball [goes up], he is coming as Tyson did [in getting] off the stool. When the bell rings, he’s coming for you. Whenever he’s on the floor, he plays at one speed and that’s fast and hard. He’s a little different in that case that he’s probably the only [No.] 1, and then I would put [at] 1B in that same category John Wall. Just that speed of coming at you every time you’re on the floor. There is no kind of walking the ball up; they are coming at you and causing problems.”

 

Then, during the game, it didn’t take long for Westbrook to put these praises into action. He almost finished with yet another triple double and was good for 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists in the Thunder’s dominating win over the Bucks.