Russell Westbrook Closes Out an 18 Season Career
Russell Westbrook retired from the NBA on Wednesday, ending an 18 season career that reshaped how the league thinks about the point guard position.
He did not announce it in a press conference or a written statement. He posted a video narrated by actor Michael B. Jordan, a quiet montage of eighteen years with Westbrook never speaking on camera. The caption did the talking instead. “Sometimes you don’t even know when you’ve already watched the end,” he wrote.
Eighteen Seasons, Seven Jerseys
Westbrook entered the league in 2008, drafted fourth overall by the Seattle SuperSonics. The franchise relocated to Oklahoma City before he played a single game there, and he spent his first eleven seasons building the foundation of that identity.
Then came the moves. Houston. Washington. The Lakers. The Clippers. Denver. Sacramento. Seven stops in eighteen years, and at every one of them he played the same way he had in Oklahoma City.
The Numbers That Define Him
Westbrook retires as the NBA’s all time leader in triple doubles, with 209, a mark he built past Oscar Robertson’s previous record of 181. He finishes fifth all time in assists and fourteenth in career scoring, with 27,176 points, 9,025 rebounds, and 10,351 assists. He and LeBron James are the only two players in NBA history to pass 25,000 points and 10,000 assists.
The 2017 MVP, a nine time All Star, and a two time scoring champion, Westbrook was also named to the league’s 75th anniversary team.
A Choice, Not a Fade Out
Westbrook had offers this offseason from both the Kings and the Wizards. He turned both down.
His final season came with a rebuilding Sacramento team that tied the Utah Jazz for the worst record in the Western Conference. He still started 58 of 64 games, averaging 15.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 6.7 assists, and 1.3 steals, numbers that held up even as the team around him did not.
Westbrook never won a championship. He finishes with the fourth most career points among players who did not, and that gap will come up in every conversation about where he ranks. He is expected to be a first ballot Hall of Famer once he becomes eligible.
