This circle is now complete. This Friday night in Oklahoma City, an old master (Russell Westbrook) will try to fend off his much younger, much taller apprentice (Kristaps Porzingis). The last time such a momentous battle took place, the arena was a Death Star.
Knicks fans have been looking forward to this game ever since Zingis Khan eschewed every one of the traditional Euro-to-Euro comparisons and publicly sought out the Oklahoma City point guard as a role model:
It was interesting that when Porzingis spoke about aggressiveness, he brought up Russell Westbrook as someone he can follow. The Thunder guard always is attacking.
...
"It's not that I have to prove anything or that I can relax," Porzingis said. "That's the way I should be every day. For example, Russell Westbrook, he never relaxes. He's always super-aggressive. That's the way you have to be. You have to have that mentality every time you step on the floor."
Porzingis is the heir to Westbrook -- the more you think about it, the more sense it begins to make. Both are divinely-engineered man-monsters who routinely dunk on 3-4 players at a time. Both know how to dress for success:
(Photo credits: ESPN The Magazine/Maxim)
What will happen when these two face off on the hardwood? Something spectacular, I'd wager. The Knicks don't have any guards capable of slowing down Westbrook, and Porzingis will be hyped after his 29-point, 11-rebound performance against Charlotte. I foresee any and all of these five possibilities:
- Westbrook dunks on Porzingis.
- Porzingis dunks on Westbrook.
- Porzingis blocks Webrook.
- Westbrook blocks Porzingis.
- The Earth explodes.
Which scenario is most likely to go down in OKC? Take the poll at the bottom, and let's go Knicks!