One of the game’s greatest point guards is hanging them up.
Russell Westbrook announced his retirement after 18 seasons on Wednesday.
A nine-time All-Star, the 37-year-old Westbrook was a nine-time All-Star and the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 2018. His 209 triple-doubles are most in NBA history.
“Sometimes you don’t even know when you’ve already watched the end,” Westbrook wrote on social media accompanied by a video narrated by Academy Award-winning actor Michael B. Jordan. “You had to be there. And now it’s over.”
A native of Long Beach, CA, Westbrook was originally taken with the fourth overall pick of the 2008 NBA Draft out of UCLA by the Seattle SuperSonics, who would become the Oklahoma City Thunder later that year. Westbrook would go on to spend 11 seasons with the Thunder as part of a young core featuring Kevin Durant, James Harden and Serge Ibaka. The Thunder reached the 2012 NBA Finals where they ultimately fell in five games to the Miami Heat.
In 2017-2018, Westbrook led the league in scoring with 31.6 points a night. Also averaging 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists, Westbrook would be named MVP, edging former teammate Harden for the award. He became just the second Sonics/Thunder player to win the honour after Durant, who claimed it in 2014.
After his 11 seasons with the Thunder, he would spend his remaining years bouncing around the league. Westbrook was traded to the Houston Rockets to reunite with Harden in the summer of 2019 in a blockbuster trade that saw Chris Paul go the other way. He would spend 18 months with the team before a deal to the Washington Wizards. Westbrook would later suit up for the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings with whom he spent last season.
Westbrook finishes his career averaging 20.9 points on .438 shooting with 8.0 assists and 6.9 boards over 33.1 minutes a night in 1,301 games.
Internationally, Westbrook represented the United States on two occasions, winning a gold medal at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and at the 2012 London Olympics.
