"Russell Westbrook refused to take the credit.

But the facts are undeniable.

As soon as Westbrook arrived, he immediately shrunk the development time of a rebuilding Thunder franchise. Before he was taken fourth overall in the 2008 draft, the Thunder was stuck in no man's land, a 23-win outfit that had no true escape route.

Then, just like that, the franchise hit the jackpot. A once unheralded and underappreciated guard out of UCLA became the backbone of the Thunder's transformation.

"I don't think it was just me," Westbrook said. "I just think I just came in and tried to help the team…I just tried to come in and tried to improve us, whether it was defensively, offensively, leadership or whatever it may be. I was just trying to come in and help us win."

What Westbrook did was provide skills at his position that the franchise had not seen since Gary Payton's final season in Seattle. Since 2002-03, the point guard spot had been occupied by a revolving door of run-of-the-mill talents before Westbrook. The list included names like Antonio Daniels and Luke Ridnour, Earl Watson and Delonte West. None of them possessed traits like Westbrook."