Russell Westbrook
Teams
Oklahoma City Thunder - 2008-19
Houston Rockets - 2019-20
Washington Wizards - 2020-21
Los Angeles Lakers - 2021-present
Playoffs
Appearances - 11 (2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2016,2017,2018,2019,2020,2021)
Conference Finals - 4 (2011,2012,2014,2016)
NBA Finals - 1 (2012)
Championships - 0
Awards and Honors
MVP - 1 (2016,2017)
All-NBA First Team - 2 (2011,2012,2013,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019,2021)
All-NBA Second Team - 5 (2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2018)
All-NBA Third Team - 2 (2019,2020)
*(actual in bold, deserved in italics)
All-Time Ranks
Assists Per Game - #9
Total Assists - #12
Points Per Game - #25
Total Steals - #30
Total Points - #39
Steals Per Game - #42
League Leads
Total Assists (#1-2018,2019,2021, #2-2016,2017, #4-2011,2013, #5-2010,2015)
Total Steals (#2-2016, #3-2011, #4-2018,2019, #5-#5-2012,2013)
Assists Per Game (#1-2018,2019,2021, #2-2016, #3-2017, #4-2015)
Steals Per Game (#2-2015, #4-2011,2019, #5-2016,2018)
Total Points (#1-2017, #3-2015, #4-2012,2018)
Points Per Game (#1-2015,2017, #5-2012)
As a sophomore at UCLA, Russell Westbrook averaged 12.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 4.3 assists, and helped the Bruins reach the Final Four for the second year in a row, then decided to leave school early to enter the NBA Draft, where he was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics with the #4 overall pick, just a week before the team moved to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder.
Westbrook averaged 15.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 5.3 assists as a rookie, good enough to make the All-Rookie First Team, but only half of what he would average across the board later in his career. The Thunder missed the playoffs that year, but they would only miss the postseason one more time with Westbrook on the squad.
The Thunder made the playoffs the next year, losing in the first round, and Westbrook had another good year, raising his assists to 8 per game, but it was the next year that he became a star. In 2010-11, he averaged 21.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 8.2 assists and was named to the All-NBA Second Team, and helped lead the Thunder to the Conference Finals, where they lost to the Dallas Mavericks.
He was again very good the next year, though his assist average dropped to 5.5 per game, but the Thunder were able to advance all the way to the NBA Finals, the only time the franchise has reached that point since moving. They faced LeBron James and the Heat in that series, with Westbrook averaging 27.0 points per game, but Miami won the series in 5 games.
The Thunder looked like they were headed back to the Finals the next year, finishing with the best record in the West, but Westbrook tore his meniscus in the second playoff game and the Thunder ended up losing in the second round. He had surgery during the playoffs, then another just before the next season started.
After missing just the first two games of the next season after his second offseason surgery, Westbrook looked like he was fully back, but he only played until Christmas before it was determined that he needed yet another knee surgery. He missed 2 more months, then was put on a minutes restriction for the rest of the season to try to keep him healthy, resulting in a down season by his standards. He was able to play a bigger role once the playoffs started, and he helped get the Thunder back to the Conference Finals for the third time in 4 years, but San Antonio kept them from reaching the Finals.
Westbrook broke his hand in the second game of the following season, and Kevin Durant was also injured at the time, causing the Thunder to have a terrible start to the season. Once the pair returned, they turned on the jets, with Westbrook finishing the season as the scoring leader at 28.1 per game, along with 7.3 rebounds and 8.6 assists, all 3 the best he had averaged to that point in his career. They ended up winning 45 games that season, but ended up falling just short of making the playoffs.
Westbrook's scoring dipped to 23.5 per game the next year, but he raised his rebounds to 7.8 per game and his assists to 10.4, #2 in the league. He and Durant led the Thunder back to the Conference Finals for the 4th time together, and took a 3-1 lead on the Warriors, but lost the final 3 games of that series to be eliminated again.
Durant left the team after that season, and Westbrook stepped up in a big way, posting one of the greatest seasons in history. He led the league with 31.6 points per game, and also averaged 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists, becoming just the second player in history to average a triple-double for a full season, joining Oscar Robertson. He also broke Robertson's record for triple-doubles in a season when he got his 42nd one just before the season ended, which was more than the 37 Westbrook had accumulated in his first 8 seasons combined. He won the MVP that year, but Oklahoma City lost in 5 games in the first round, despite 3 triple-doubles from Westbrook in that round.
Westbrook repeated the triple-double feat the next season, averaging 25.4 points, 10.1 rebounds, and a league-leading 10.3 assists per game, yet somehow was only named to the All-NBA Second Team. After a first-round playoff defeat, Westbrook had his third straight triple-double season in 2018-19, finishing with 22.9 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 10.7 assists, which led the league again. Despite the great individual season, the Thunder lost in the first round of the playoffs for the third straight year.
Westbrook was traded to Houston for Chris Paul before the next season, and while he had a very good season, averaging 27.2 points per game, he averaged only 7.9 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game for the season, very low for him. He missed 4 playoff games with a strained quad, and the Rockets were eliminated in the second round.
Westbrook was traded again last year, this time to the Washington Wizards for John Wall. He went back to his old level, averaging a triple-double for the 4th time in his career, with 22.2 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 11.7 assists, and helped the Wizards rally to reach the playoffs, but they weren't able to advance past the first round. Despite his amazing season, he was left off the All-NBA Teams completely. During the past summer, he was traded for the third straight summer, this time to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Westbrook is well-known as one of the best all-around players in history. He's not a very good 3-point shooter, and he commits a lot of turnovers, but he fills up the rest of the stat sheet like no other player ever. He hold the all-time record for triple-doubles in a career and in a season, and has averaged one for a full season 4 times, with Oscar Robertson the only other player to ever accomplish it once. He hasn't won a championship yet, but he has reached 4 Conference Finals and one NBA Finals, and he is still playing at a very high level and has a great chance to be a big contributor to a champion sometime in the near future, and he is easily one of the greatest players of all time.
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