18 seasons. 2017 NBA MVP. 9x All-NBA. 9x All-Star. Olympic Gold Medalist. 3x Assist Champ. 2x Scoring Champ.

27,176 career points (14th), 10,351 career assists (5th), 9,025 career rebounds,

209 career triple-doubles (1st).

What else can you say but thank you for the memories, Russ.

🎉 Happy birthday to Magic Johnson, Chucky Atkins, Kenny Lofton Jr., and Mfiondu Kabengele 🇨🇦 ! 🎉

In a video narrated by Academy Award winner, Michael B. Jordan, Russell Westbrook calls it a career. In honor of Brodie, let’s recap his illustrious career.

🌴 West Coast Roots

A Cali kid at heart, Westbrook grew up in Hawthorne, California and attended Leuzinger High. He didn’t start on his school’s varsity team until his junior season, and after a huge growth spurt, colleges took notice.

He attended UCLA as a 3-star prospect. After a productive sophomore season capped off by a second Final Four appearance, Westbrook was selected #4 overall in the 2008 NBA Draft to the Seattle SuperSonics, one pick ahead of his college teammate, Kevin Love.

⚡️ Russ & KD Era (2009-2016)

Days after the draft, the SuperSonics relocated to Oklahoma City, and the all-new Thunder had a fresh young duo of Russ and Kevin Durant.

The following season, OKC picked up James Harden, and incoming stash from the ‘08 draft Serge Ibaka, and the wins started coming in bunches. The Thunder had a 27-win turnaround in the 2010 season, losing to the LA Lakers (🏆) in the first round. After a strong postseason showing, and an overall electric feel on the court, Brodie’s stock was on the rise.

While acting as KD’s Robin, Westbrook and the Thunder became one of the hottest teams in the Western Conference, with a WCF appearance in 2011 vs the Dallas Mavericks (🏆), and an NBA Finals appearance in 2012 vs the Miami Heat (🏆).

After the 2012 season was over, Russ even messed around and earned himself a gold medal with Team USA at the 2012 Olympics in London🥇.

With Westbrook and KD at the helm, the 2012 Thunder became one of the youngest teams in NBA history to make the Finals and it felt like another trip was all but certain.

However, in 2013, Russ fell victim to an undercut from Patrick Beverley tearing his meniscus in Game 2 of Round 1. Russ needed three surgeries to repair his meniscus, and still ended up playing 46 games in the 2014 season! The Thunder eventually fell in the 2014 WCF to the San Antonio Spurs (🏆), with Russ playing in every playoff game.

In 2015, KD went out early with a Jones fracture, giving Russ the keys to his own team for the first time. As the team’s Batman, Russ led the NBA in scoring average (28.1 PPG), and led the Thunder to 45 wins (although still missing out on the playoffs).

However, with KD back, the Thunder blew a 3-1 lead to the 73-9 Golden State Warriors in the 2016 WCF, marking another “what if” season.

With KD leaving to join the Mega-Powers Warriors in the subsequent offseason, we were always left questioning whether this era of the OKC Thunder stood as one of the best teams to never hold the Larry O’Brien.

🏆 MVP & Mr. Triple-Double Era (2017-2019)

With KD out of the picture, Westbrook went absolutely nuclear for the following three seasons.

In 2017, Russ reach the peak of his powers, dragging a lifeless OKC team to a 6th seed, winning league MVP, and delivering one of the greatest individual seasons in NBA history.

He achieved a feat that was widely deemed as unbreakable since Oscar Robertson did it in 1962, averaging a triple-double for a season.

31.6 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 10.4 APG

He also went on to average triple-doubles in 2018 (25.4 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 10.3 APG) and 2019 (22.9 PPG, 11.1 RPG, 10.7 APG).

While individual success arose in Russ’s final days in OKC, team success did not with early playoff exits in each of his final 3 years. Including this dagger from Dame Lillard in Russ's final game. ⬇️

🏀 The Back-End (2020-2026)

At this point in time, the analytics community had fully soured on Westbrook, given his high usage rate, turnover percentage, and inefficiency from deep.

In 2019, the Thunder traded Westbrook to the Houston Rockets for Chris Paul and a bevy of picks, marking the end of his time in Oklahoma City. He made his final All-NBA appearance in Houston, alongside his former OKC teammate James Harden.

After losing to the LA Lakers (🏆) in the Bubble, Westbrook was on his way to Washington, where he averaged a triple-double (22.2 PTS, 11.5 REB, 11.7 AST) for the 4th and final time.

Russ finished off his career mainly in complementary and reserve roles, playing for 4 more teams (Lakers, Clippers, Nuggets, and Kings) in 5 years.

📖 The Legacy

I find Westbrook a super interesting case study, as he was an imperfect player, but that’s what made him so fun to root for (and against). For every triple-double and thunderous dunk, there were high turnover games and eyesores of contested jumpers. Regardless, he was uniquely himself, and that is very commendable.

Wabi sabi some might say.

Westbrook helped build the Thunder from infancy to a well-respected organization around the league. He achieved the unthinkable, making the triple-double something that didn’t warrant a front-page headline. He was a leader in his community with the Why Not? Foundation, a fashion icon, and boasts one of the greatest highlight packages in NBA history.

Unfortunately Westbrook never hoisted an NBA championship and now joins the long list of NBA greats to never lift the Larry O’Brien.

Regardless, you have to respect that Russ always did it his way, and that he carved his own path to becoming an NBA legend.

Thanks for the memories, Brodie!

Here’s a recap of the last few days of Rivals Week action in the W:

While we have another 67 days until the start of the regular season, it’s time to mark our calendars as the official schedule has been released!

🍿 Opening Night - Tuesday, October 20

🎄 Christmas Day - Friday, December 25

🕊️ Martin Luther King Jr. Day - Monday, January 18

Some other key dates to highlight:

Enjoyers! Thanks for joining us on another Friday! I always cherish our time together. We’ll be here on Monday to chat a little more about the game we all love. Talk soon.

And a happy August 14th to all who celebrate!

Brian Shkabari