Triple-double king Russell Westbrook announces retirement from NBA
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Russell Westbrook, 37, recorded 209 triple-doubles, including a record 42 during his stellar 2016-17 MVP season.
PHOTO: EPA
Triple-double king and former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook announced his retirement after 18 seasons on Aug 12.
“Sometimes you don’t even know when you’ve already watched the end. You had to be there. And now it’s over,” the 37-year-old wrote in a social media post.
Westbrook’s decision was announced during a 3½-minute video. He did not respond to any of the questions by the narrator but the theme made it clear he was leaving on his own terms.
At the end of the video, the screen read: “The greatest thing he left behind couldn’t fit inside a museum. It never had to be said.”
Westbrook recorded 209 triple-doubles, including a record 42 during a stellar 2016-17 MVP season.
He averaged a career-high 31.6 points to go with 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists that season to become the first player since the legendary Oscar Robertson (1961-62) to average a triple-double over a full season.
A nine-time All-Star, he ranks fifth all-time in career assists (10,351) and 14th in scoring (27,176). He also led the NBA in assists three times and scoring twice.
In 2021, Westbrook was named to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team. He was named All-Star Game MVP in consecutive seasons (2015, 2016) and won a gold medal with the United States in the 2012 Olympics in London.
He averaged 20.9 points, 8.0 assists and 6.9 rebounds in 1,301 regular-season games with seven franchises.
In 135 career play-off games, Westbrook averaged 22.5 points, 7.1 assists and 6.7 rebounds.
He was selected fourth overall by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2008 NBA Draft and the franchise relocated to Oklahoma City before his rookie season.
He spent 11 seasons with the franchise and teamed with Kevin Durant to make the Thunder one of the NBA’s top teams. Oklahoma City reached the NBA Finals in 2012 – when James Harden was also on the roster – before losing to the Miami Heat.
Eight of Westbrook’s All-Star appearances were with the Thunder. His other was when he averaged 27.2 points for the Houston Rockets in 2019-20, his lone season with the club.
“Russell Westbrook is the ultimate competitor,” Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti said in a statement.
“His internal belief and unbridled fearlessness helped establish the foundation of our organisation from day one in 2008 and he elevated the confidence and inspired our community in every year thereafter.
“Russell will be as successful in his life after basketball as he was during his career because his qualities and gifts transfer. His impact on our community is still felt today, and he is beloved for his devotion as much as his talent.
“He built a Hall of Fame career not by making statements or simply by breaking records, he did it by showing us all the power of asking one simple question: Why Not?”
Westbrook bounced around to five teams over his last six seasons. He averaged 15.2 points and 6.7 rebounds in 64 games (58 starts) for the Sacramento Kings last season.
A college star at UCLA before leaving for the NBA after two seasons, Westbrook was the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore. REUTERS
