Russell Westbrook retires: Answering the biggest questions on legacy, impact
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Russell Westbrook announced his retirement Wednesday after 18 seasons across seven teams, capping his career as the NBA's all-time triple-double leader (209) and 2017 MVP
- Westbrook set the single-season triple-double record with 42 in 2016-17, breaking Oscar Robertson's 41 from 1961-62, while averaging 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists that season
- Westbrook and Kevin Durant reached four Western Conference finals together but only one NBA Finals — the 2012 loss to LeBron James and the Heat; Westbrook never returned after they split
- Westbrook retires as one of only two members of the 25,000-point, 10,000-assist club (alongside LeBron James), ranking 16th in career points and 5th in career assists
- Nikola Jokic notched 34 triple-doubles in both 2024-25 and 2025-26 (the latter on pace for 43 in 82 games), positioning him as the strongest challenger to Westbrook's single-season record
- Westbrook committed to OKC after Durant's 2016 exit, launching an MVP 'revenge tour' that helped lure Paul George and set the table for Sam Presti's trade moves powering the Thunder's current contention era
- Westbrook built a parallel fashion legacy, sometimes sewing his own outfits and famously trolling Durant by wearing a photographer's vest at Golden State in 2016
Why it matters: Westbrook exits without a championship but cemented his statistical uniqueness as the only player besides Oscar Robertson to average a season-long triple-double. His decision to stay in OKC after Durant left triggered the franchise rebuild, and Nikola Jokic is already closing in on his single-season triple-double record.
Ask SkimNews
