Russell Westbrook is calling it a career. The point guard announced his retirement from the NBA at age-37 on Wednesday after a brilliant career that spanned 18 seasons. Westbrook will be remembered as the 2017 NBA MVP, and the first player to average a triple-double since Oscar Robertson.
Westbrook retires as the NBA’s all-time leader in triple-doubles with 209. It’s likely that record doesn’t last for long, because Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic already has 198 triple-doubles at age-31. Westbrook became the first player to average a triple-double for a season in 55 years on the way to his only MVP. He would average a triple-double in a season four times in his career, all with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Seattle SuperSonics selected Westbrook out of UCLA with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, but the franchise’s move to Oklahoma City was already in motion at that time. Westbrook joined Kevin Durant, who was drafted one year before him, and then teamed with James Harden one year later to form one of the best young trios in league history. The Thunder reached the 2012 NBA Finals where they lost to LeBron James and the Miami Heat, and Harden was traded to the Houston Rockets the next year.
Westbrook reached new heights after Durant left for the Golden State Warriors in free agency in the summer of 2016. He put up numbers the league had never seen before in a super high usage role, but he was unable to lead OKC out of the first round of the playoffs. The Thunder traded him to the Houston Rockets for a package headlined by Chris Paul in the summer of 2019, which began a nomadic stage of his career.
Westbrook played for the Washington Wizards, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Denver Nuggets, and Sacramento Kings before retiring. He averaged 15.2 points, 6.7 assists, and 5.4 rebounds on 52.8 percent true shooting this past season with the Kings.
Westbrook will go down as one of the most polarizing players in league history, in part because he was unable to improve as a three-point shooter after his athleticism started to wane. In his prime, though, Westbrook was an absolute marvel with the most ferocious rim attacks the league had ever seen from a point guard.
SB Nation wrote about Westbrook so much over the years. Here are a few of my favorite pieces.
There will never be another player like Westbrook. It was truly a thrill to watch his career.
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