Russell Westbrook Retires After 18 Explosive Seasons: No Ring, But He Won the Streets

After 18 seasons, seven franchises and 1,301 regular-season games, Westbrook retires with 27,176 points, 10,351 assists and an NBA-record 209 triple-doubles. He bows out at 37 years old, finishing 14th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list and fifth in assists, alongside nine All-Star selections, nine All-NBA honours, two scoring titles and three assists titles.

And then there is 2016-17.

Following Kevin Durant’s departure from Oklahoma City, Westbrook produced one of the defining individual seasons of the modern era. He averaged 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists, becoming the first player since Oscar Robertson in 1961-62 to average a triple-double across an entire season.

He also recorded 42 triple-doubles, breaking Robertson’s single-season record, and was crowned NBA MVP.

Westbrook would eventually average a triple-double in four different seasons. What once seemed like an untouchable statistical achievement became almost routine whenever No.0 stepped onto the floor.

From OKC to NBA history

Drafted fourth overall in 2008, Westbrook spent his first 11 seasons with Oklahoma City.

Alongside Durant and a young James Harden, he helped take the Thunder to the 2012 NBA Finals, where they lost to LeBron James and the Miami Heat. A championship would ultimately remain the missing line on Westbrook’s résumé.

He later represented Houston, Washington, the Lakers, Clippers, Denver and finally Sacramento, where even at 37 he averaged 15.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.7 assists in his final season.

Westbrook was officially selected for the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021. Importantly, the NBA itself did not rank those players. ESPN subsequently produced its own ranking of the 76 selected legends and placed Westbrook 68th all-time.

That number will always be debatable.

Because Westbrook’s career was about more than rankings.

There were the coast-to-coast attacks, the violent dunks, the rebounds ripped away from bigger players, the primal celebrations and the nights when one man seemed determined to overwhelm an entire basketball game through sheer force.

2016-17 MVP 9 x All-Star 2 x Scoring Champion 5th in all time assists NBA 75th Anniversary Team member

He never won the ring, but Russell Westbrook definitely won the streets.