Jason Kidd Calls Russell Westbrook the ‘Mike Tyson of Basketball’

Bucks head coach Jason Kidd says Russell Westbrook is the “Mike Tyson of basketball,” comparing the relentless fury of the NBA’s reigning MVP to that of the legendary boxer.

Kidd says Westbrook plays at a single speed: “fast and hard.”

Westbrook’s near-triple-double (12 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists) helped lead the OKC Thunder to a 110-91 road win Tuesday night in Milwaukee.

Per ESPN:

“He is the [Mike] Tyson of basketball,” Kidd, a former star point guard himself, said before the Bucks lost 110-91 to Westbrook’s 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.”

 

Kidd was very complimentary of Westbrook and his playing style. The pair exchanged a quick handshake and greetings before Tuesday’s game.

 

“He’s the best in the game,” Kidd said of Westbrook, the reigning league MVP. “Puts a lot of pressure on your defense, offensively and defensively. For him, he can make the adjustment, play with talented guys like [Paul] George and Melo [Carmelo Anthony]. For him, his game doesn’t change. He puts a lot of pressure offensively on that break, just finding the open guy and making the game easy.”

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