Through the first four seasons of his NBA career, Russell Westbrook accumulated eight triple-doubles. He scored, rebounded and created assists, but there was no overt sign he would develop into the triple-double king.
That slowly began to change in 2014-15 when he recorded 11 triple-doubles, then 18 the following season. By 2016-17, he was a triple-double machine, setting a single-season record with 42 in 2016-17, the first season he averaged a triple-double, earning him an MVP award.
He continues to ring up triple-doubles and is two shy of breaking Oscar Robertson’s all-time record of 181 career triple-doubles.
“I don’t think about it,” Westbrook said of triple-double records. “I just go out and have fun and hoop. At the end of the day, when my journey is done and I’m done playing basketball, I can think of some of the crazy stat lines – the good, the bad, the ugly – and be thankful. I’m thankful for it all."
Westbrook is one of the most scrutinized and under-appreciated All-Stars. In the NBA’s Age of Efficiency, Westbrook’s game – sometimes filled with bad shots and turnovers – doesn’t fit neatly into a model.
He plays hard, produces, and, throughout his career, he wins way more often than he loses. A look at his mastery of the triple-double in his NBA career:
Westbrook already holds the NBA record for most consecutive games with a triple-double, which he broke in 2019 with an 11-game run from Jan. 22 to Feb. 14.
After an uneven season with just eight triple-doubles with Houston in 2019-20, the Wizards star rejuvenated his high-energy impact — 34 triple-doubles this season — under Coach Scott Brooks who coached Westbrook in Oklahoma City and may be his staunchest supporter in a sea of unsatisfied critics.
Maybe not surprisingly Westbrook toppled so many milestones in the past five years while he's averaged a triple-double in four of the last five seasons.
“He’s amazing,” Brooks said after a recent 21-rebound, 24-assist triple-double. “Everybody’s described him in so many different ways. I’ve been fortunate enough to see him (as his coach) for eight years and do a lot of things that are pretty much superhuman at times. Point guards don’t do what he does. They’re not built that way. … There’s nobody in the history of the game that can do what he does throughout the stat sheet.”
Consider some of Westbrook's single-game, triple-double accomplishments:
♦ With 20-plus assists: Five
♦ With 20-plus rebounds: Three
♦ With 30-plus points: 46, including a 57-point, 13-rebound, 11-assist performance on March 29, 2017.
Only three times in NBA history has a player had both 20 assists and 20 rebounds in a triple-double. Westbrook has done it twice.
All these points, assists and rebounds have not just been good for Westbrook's career stat lines; they've helped power 134 wins for the Thunder, Rockets and Wizards combined.
Westbrook has just five games left in this season to tie or break Robertson's record while helping the Wizards earn a playoff berth. It would be the team's first since the 2017-18 season when they lost to the top-seeded Toronto Raptors in the first round.
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