He got paid and chills out whenever convenient.

“[Russel] 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.”

Ovechkin doesn’t play great defense. He doesn’t really play good defense, aside from the rare shift now and then. At best, he plays average on defense.

The thing is, one shouldn’t hammer his talent for scoring in order to get him to play a little better defensively. You ignore the 10% (lack of defensive mindset) and allow him to be the offensive talent he’s supposed to be. He’s also a winger, not a center, so his defensive responsibilities are lessened.

I’ve seen people complain that he plays too near the blue line in the defensive zone. Let me tell you, there is very little that scares a defenseman more than having a super talented wing that close to a break-away; chip the puck past the d-man and it’s OV one-on-one against the goalie. If he played 20 ft. further into the d-zone, both d-men have time to adjust to the threat. (Not that all wingers should do this, but he’s just so average on defense, that this can be overlooked in favor of his favorables.)

The bottom line is that despite all the hype, Ovechkin’s 339 NHL goals doesn’t even “remotely” get him close to the “Top 100″ goal scorers of all time ? Even people like Rick Vaive (441) and Brian Propp (425) have vastly superior numbers ! So while I can understand why some people “hope” this clown makes it big, the simple fact remains that sometimes “hope and reality” are two completely different things !