Russell Westbrook announces NBA retirement after 18 seasons
Westbrook, a former NBA Most Valuable Player, holds the record for the most career triple-doubles in league history.
Triple-double king and former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook announced his retirement after 18 seasons on Wednesday via social media.
“Sometimes you don’t even know when you’ve already watched the end. You had to be there. And now it’s over,” Westbrook wrote on his social media post.
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Westbrook’s decision was announced during a three-and-a-half-minute video. He didn’t respond to any of the questions by the narrator, but the theme made it clear Westbrook 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, 37, recorded 209 triple-doubles, including a record 42 during his stellar 2016-17 Most Valuable Player (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). Westbrook 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 playoff games, Westbrook averaged 22.5 points, 7.1 assists and 6.7 rebounds.
Oklahoma City and Westbrook’s run to the NBA Finals
Westbrook was selected fourth overall by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2008 NBA Draft, and the franchise relocated to Oklahoma City before his rookie season.
Westbrook spent 11 seasons with the franchise and teamed with Kevin Durant to make the Thunder one of the top teams in the NBA. Oklahoma City reached the NBA Finals in 2012, when James Harden was also on the team, before losing to the Miami Heat.
Westbrook made eight of his All-Star appearances with the Thunder. His other was when he averaged 27.2 points for the Houston Rockets in 2019-20, his lone season with the team.
“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 organization 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 (with 58 starts) for the Sacramento Kings last season.
Westbrook was a college star at UCLA before leaving for the NBA after two seasons. He was the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore.
Reporting from Al Jazeera contributed to this story.
