Simmons Article on Game 4: Caution-Bron and Westbrook praise inside

Well-written article by Simmons, put a lot of things in perspective on Westbrook and Lebron's performances last night and in this series

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He(RW) hugged a couple of people, went through the charade of hearing them, then slowly limped under the stadium again while wiping his eyes. Not how you want to look after playing the game of your life.

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He's been the most polarizing player of the 2012 Finals, no small feat considering the second-most polarizing basketball player of all time happens to play for the other team.1 Westbrook's detractors don't ever expect him to find the right balance between "competitive" and "reckless."

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Westbrook's defenders accept his faults because they're a small part of the greater good: He brings so many unique things to the table, fills the stat sheet in so many different ways, competes so freaking hard every game and remains such a good-natured teammate, they're fine with any collateral damage. The 2012 Zombie Sonics made the Finals because they're relentlessly young and relentlessly athletic. That's Westbrook in a nutshell.

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the "10 Percent Theory." Even the best NBA players have holes; in a best-case scenario, they're tapping into about 90 percent of their total potential, with the holes representing the other 10 percent. We can either dwell on the 90 percent or the 10 percent … and some holes are less glaring than others

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On Oklahoma City, it's tougher to see Kevin Durant's 10 percent (he's not strong enough yet to prevent defenders like Shane Battier from hounding him 25 feet from the basket and denying him the ball, and he's not a consistently good enough defender yet) than Westbrook's 10 percent (his recklessness, which permeates everything he does, good and bad).

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For three quarters, LeBron James played at the single highest level I have ever seen from him.To repeat: LeBron was playing like a rich man's version of the fifth-best basketball player of all time. I don't care how much you hated "The Decision" — if you can't appreciate what LeBron James is doing right now, you need to start following another sport. It's one of the greatest night-to-night athletic feats we have ever witnessed.

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As for Russell Westbrook, he's never shedding that 10 percent. It's always going to pulsate. We're always going to notice it. That's what makes him Russell Westbrook. Just know that boy competed last night. You are who you are.

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