Thanks for the Show, Russ: Westbrook Calls It a Career
Russell Westbrook Calls It a Career After 18 NBA Seasons
One of the most electric players the NBA has ever seen is calling it a career.
Russell Westbrook announced his retirement from basketball Wednesday, ending an incredible 18-year NBA career that featured an MVP award, nine All-Star appearances, nine All-NBA selections and enough triple-doubles to completely rewrite the record book.
Westbrook finishes his career as the NBA's all-time leader with 209 triple-doubles, a record that perfectly represents the type of player he was.
Russ didn't just fill up a stat sheet.
He attacked it.
Night after night, Westbrook could give you 30 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists while playing like the building was going to shut down in 15 minutes and he needed to get everything done before they turned the lights off.
There really wasn't another Russell Westbrook.
At his peak, Westbrook played basketball like somebody had hit fast-forward.
One second he'd grab a defensive rebound. The next he'd be flying down the middle of the floor, exploding toward the rim and throwing down a dunk that looked significantly angrier than a normal dunk needed to be.
Then he'd scream.
The crowd would lose its mind.
And somewhere along the way he'd already have 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
That was Russ.
More Than the Triple-Doubles
The triple-doubles will understandably be the first thing mentioned whenever Westbrook's career is discussed.
But his résumé goes much deeper.
Westbrook was selected fourth overall in the 2008 NBA Draft, back when the Oklahoma City Thunder were technically still the Seattle SuperSonics. He would become one of the foundational pieces of a young Oklahoma City core alongside Kevin Durant and James Harden.
That group eventually reached the 2012 NBA Finals, and although Oklahoma City never captured the championship many expected would eventually come, Westbrook established himself as one of basketball's biggest stars.
For more than a decade, he was basically appointment television.
You didn't always know exactly what Russell Westbrook was going to do.
You just knew something was probably going to happen.
Maybe he'd score 45.
Maybe he'd finish with 15 assists.
Maybe he'd grab a rebound over a seven-footer who had absolutely no business losing a rebound to a 6-foot-3 point guard.
Maybe he'd attempt a shot that made you yell "RUSS, NO!" at the television.
Maybe he'd make it anyway.
The Russell Westbrook experience contained multitudes.
And that's what made it so much fun.
The MVP Season
His masterpiece came in 2016-17.
Kevin Durant left Oklahoma City for Golden State, and suddenly the Thunder belonged entirely to Westbrook.
His response?
One of the most ridiculous individual seasons in NBA history.
Westbrook averaged 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists, becoming the first player since Oscar Robertson to average a triple-double for an entire season.
He recorded 42 triple-doubles, broke Robertson's single-season record at the time and won the NBA MVP award.
It wasn't just the numbers, either.
There were moments.
Lots of them.
The ridiculous game-winners.
The coast-to-coast attacks.
The fourth-quarter takeovers.
The nights when Oklahoma City desperately needed somebody to make something happen and everybody in the building knew exactly who was getting the basketball.
Westbrook played that entire season with his foot slammed on the gas.
No slowing down.
No conserving energy.
Just Russ.
He eventually averaged a triple-double in four different seasons, turning something basketball fans once considered nearly impossible into something that almost started feeling normal.
It wasn't normal.
Russell Westbrook just made it look that way.
Basketball Was More Fun With Russ
That's probably the part of his career I'll remember most.
Russell Westbrook was fun.
Not polished. Not always efficient. Definitely not predictable.
Fun.
He played with emotion in an era where stars are constantly dissected for showing too much of it.
He talked trash.
He celebrated.
He stared people down.
He rocked babies after scoring on smaller defenders.
He argued.
He smiled.
He got mad.
And yes, every once in a while we got an all-time postgame interview out of the deal.
Westbrook had personality.
Lots of it.
Even the fashion became part of the show. You never really knew what Russ was going to wear walking into the arena, and sometimes you weren't entirely sure what you were looking at once he arrived.
That's part of what made him such a memorable NBA star.
There are players with incredible statistics who eventually become numbers on a Basketball Reference page.
Westbrook feels different.
You remember watching Russell Westbrook.
You remember the noise when he exploded toward the rim.
You remember the swagger.
You remember the intensity.
You remember wondering how a point guard just grabbed his 15th rebound.
You remember the chaos.
For better or worse, Russell Westbrook made you feel something.
An Incredible Career
Westbrook spent 11 seasons with Oklahoma City before beginning one of the more interesting second acts we've seen from a superstar.
Houston.
Washington.
The Lakers.
The Clippers.
Denver.
Sacramento.
He went from MVP and franchise cornerstone to veteran trying to figure out how to impact different teams in different roles.
It wasn't always smooth.
Actually, sometimes it was incredibly messy.
But Westbrook kept playing.
And he kept playing hard.
That might ultimately be the defining characteristic of his entire career.
You could criticize Russell Westbrook for plenty of things.
Nobody could seriously accuse him of not caring.
He played basketball like every possession personally offended him.
Even late in his career, when he wasn't the superstar carrying Oklahoma City anymore, the energy never completely disappeared.
Westbrook finishes with 27,176 points, 10,351 assists and 209 triple-doubles, ranking fifth in NBA history in assists and 14th in scoring.
He was an MVP.
A nine-time All-Star.
A nine-time All-NBA selection.
A two-time All-Star Game MVP.
A member of the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team.
And the greatest triple-double machine basketball has ever seen.
The championship never came.
That will inevitably be mentioned when people debate where Westbrook belongs among the greatest point guards ever.
But a ring isn't required to leave a mark on basketball.
Russell Westbrook left a crater.
For 18 seasons, he gave basketball fans one of the wildest rides the NBA has ever produced.
Sometimes brilliant.
Sometimes frustrating.
Sometimes completely ridiculous.
Almost always entertaining.
There will be debates about where Russell Westbrook ranks.
There will be debates about his style of play.
There will be debates about what could have happened in Oklahoma City.
But there shouldn't be much debate about this:
The NBA was more fun with Russell Westbrook in it.
MVP.
Nine-time All-Star.
Triple-double king.
Future Hall of Famer.
One of one.
Thanks for the show, Russ.
