Triple-double king and former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook announced his retirement after 18 seasons on Wednesday via social media.
Westbrook’s decision was announced during a 3 1/2-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.”
On his social media post, Westbrook wrote: “Sometimes you don’t even know when you’ve already watched the end. You had to be there. And now it’s over.”
Westbrook, 37, recorded 209 triple-doubles, including a record 42 during his 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). Westbrook led the NBA in assists three times and scoring twice.
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.
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 club — 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 club.
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.
Westbrook was a college star at UCLA before entering the NBA after two seasons.
–Field Level Media
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