Former NBA MVP and 9-time All-Star Russell Westbrook announced his retirement from basketball on Wednesday.
Across 18 seasons, Westbrook averaged 20.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 8 assists while earning nine All-NBA nods. Twice an All-Star Game MVP, he was also named to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team during the 2021-22 season. Westbrook finished his career as the NBA’s all-time triple-double leader, amassing 209 such games.
He spent his last season playing for his third team in as many years, tallying 15.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game for the Sacramento Kings.
Russell Westbrook And The Oklahoma City Thunder
Westbrook’s NBA career began on the night of June 26, 2008, when he was selected fourth overall by the Seattle SuperSonics out of UCLA. Seattle would complete its relocation that summer, becoming the Oklahoma City Thunder – where Westbrook played the first 11 years of his career.
He made a name for himself with his jaw-dropping athleticism and aptitude to detonate on any rim that got in his way. Westbrook bled basketball; his ferocity to win was palpable every time he stepped on the hardwood.
Named to the 2008-09 All-Rookie team, Westbrook was an All-Star and All-NBA player by his third year. With his ascension and pairing with Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City rose to new heights.
The Thunder made the Western Conference Finals in Westbrook’s first year as an All-Star and broke through a year later, advancing to the 2012 NBA Finals. Oklahoma City would eventually fall to the Miami Heat, but the future was bright for the Thunder, Westbrook still just 23 years old.
Early in the first round of the 2013 Playoffs, however, he sustained a torn meniscus in a scrum for a loose ball, effectively eliminating Oklahoma City’s title chances. A year later, Durant was sidelined with a fractured foot, and the Thunder lost another year to injury.
By the 2015-16 season, both Westbrook and Durant stayed healthy and advanced all the way to the Western Conference Finals to meet a Golden State Warriors team that had just completed a record-setting 73-9 regular season campaign. Oklahoma City found itself with a 3-1 series lead through four games, but lost its grip.
In part due to the heroics of Golden State’s Klay Thompson in Game 6 of the series, the Warriors ripped off three straight wins to knock the Thunder out of the playoffs once again, effectively ending Westbrook and Durant’s partnership. That summer, Durant joined Golden State in free agency, leaving Oklahoma City in a state of flux.
This is where Westbrook left his greatest legacy.
Entering the 2016-17 season with a chip on his shoulder and a fire burning within him, Westbrook willed the Thunder. He played 81 games, averaging 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists, becoming the first player to average a triple-double over the course of a season since Oscar Robertson in 1961-62.
On his way to managing the feat, Westbrook annihilated the Denver Nuggets in the 80th game of the season. In the contest, he recorded 50 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists on 17-for-32 shooting.
Down 105-103 with 2.9 seconds remaining, Oklahoma City center Steven Adams received an inbound before pitching the ball back to Westbrook, who squared up 36 feet from the basket and launched a deep triple that rattled through the rim and gave the Thunder an improbable victory.
His efforts earned him an MVP award and the admiration of fans worldwide.
Westbrook once again averaged a triple-double for his next two seasons, although they would be the last he played for Oklahoma City.
Russell Westbrook’s Twilight Years
On July 16, 2019, the Thunder traded Westbrook to the Houston Rockets for Chris Paul.
He lasted just one season in Houston, his averages dropping to 27.2 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7 assists. Paired with James Harden, who accompanied Westbrook and Durant in their early Oklahoma City days, the Rockets were defeated in the second round of the 2020 playoffs by the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers.
The season after, Westbrook found himself playing for the Washington Wizards. His numbers bounced back to 22.2 points, 11.5 rebounds and 11.7 assists, giving him another season averaging a triple-double.
Washington proved to be nothing more than a pit stop, though, and Westbrook was acquired by the Lakers just a season later to join forces with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. His stay in Los Angeles was tumultuous and by February of the 2022-23 season, Westbrook found himself playing for the neighboring Los Angeles Clippers.
Westbrook finished out the season and stayed on in Los Angeles for one more year, averaging 12.2 points, 5 rebounds and 5.2 assists with the Clippers. Then, as a role player primarily coming off the bench, Westbrook made a last stab at a championship when he joined Denver for the 2024-25 season.
The team made it to the second round, where they were ultimately defeated in seven games by the Thunder, who went on to win the 2025 NBA Championship.
That summer, Westbrook joined Sacramento, where he’d play his final NBA season as a surefire Hall of Famer and one of the greatest players in the history of the sport.
