Will the real Russell Westbrook please stand up?

Instead, the Oklahoma City Thunder's point guard remains in the most peculiar of positions, brutally lodged somewhere between Kevin Durant's shadow and a short list of players primed to explode onto the national scene.

Welcome to the life of Westbrook.

Even after making his way from the Team USA bubble, past Rajon Rondo as the final cut and past Derrick Rose into the coveted position of playing crunch-time minutes, to the front of the line as the American's most dependable player after Durant in the FIBA World Championship, Westbrook remains a mystery in the minds of many. Westbrook's 9.1-point average of course was lost in the hoopla surrounding Durant's team-leading and USA record-breaking 22.8-point average. And it's understandable how Durant dwarfed his teammate's sheer hustle with a silky-smooth, hot hand.

But while much of the basketball world zeroes in on what Durant will do next, it's Westbrook — the player who sits just two lockers to the left of Durant inside the Thunder's home dressing room — who just might be on the verge of sending the league the biggest statement from Oklahoma City.