[70] On January 15, 2017, Westbrook had 36 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his 20th triple-double of the season, as he helped the Thunder defeat the Sacramento Kings 122–118. Norman Powell figures to be a popular option for the second night in a row. Mike Barner lays out his top picks at each position for Tuesday's slate, including Spurs guard Dejounte Murray. Westbrook was something of an iron man for the Thunder last season, starting all 82 games for a team expected to challenge for a spot in the NBA Finals. He had 25 games with 12 or more assists. 6 seed in the Western Conference. [77] On March 7, Westbrook's career-high 58 points was not enough to lift the Thunder over the Portland Trail Blazers, losing 126–121. Westbrook helped lead the Thunder to the NBA Finals for the first time since the franchise relocated but OKC would lose in five games to the Miami Heat. However, the Thunder were eliminated by the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in the first round. [109] On November 28, he recorded his third triple-double of the season with 23 points, 19 rebounds and 15 assists in a 100–83 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. In 2007, they lost to eventual national champion Florida, 76–66 and in 2008, they lost 78–63 to Memphis. His scoring output increased to 23.6 points per game, and he shot 45.7 percent from the field. 1 and Westbrook's 30.9% usage ranking No. As was the case with Paul, coach Mike D'Antoni will likely stagger Westbrook and Harden as much as possible, so it would be surprising if Westbrook saw a massive drop in numbers. His assist average dropped to 5.5 last year after spending the previous three in the eight-plus range. In doing so, he joined Michael Jordan as the only other player to post those numbers in a playoff game. On March 23, 2012, he scored a career-high 45 points in a 149–140 double overtime win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Most Valuable Player, First-Team All-NBA, sixth consecutive All-Star Game, averaged a triple-double for the first time since Oscar Robertson in 1962, and many more to boot. [44][45][46] On April 12, he scored a career-high 54 points on 21-of-43 shooting in a losing effort to the Indiana Pacers. [9] In May 2004, Barrs died from an enlarged heart during a pickup game. [139][140], On January 9, 2020, Westbrook made his return to Oklahoma City for the first time as a visitor, getting 34 points, 2 rebounds, and 5 assists on 14-of-26 shooting from the field in the 113–92 loss. Despite his efforts, the Thunder lost 115–111 to go down 2–0 in the series. He also regressed as a three-point and free-throw shooter, losing 4.5 percent on his threes and 10.8 percent on his freebies. Russell Westbrook is 'one of the best players in the league,' says Jayson Tatum. He averaged 23.6 points, 5.5 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.7 steals for the lockout-shortened season and was voted to the All-NBA Second Team for the second year in a row. [108] On November 21, he recorded his first triple-double of the season with 11 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds in a 123–95 win over the Golden State Warriors. [66] Two days later, he recorded 33 points, 12 rebounds and 16 assists in a 113–96 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, joining Robertson, Magic Johnson, and Jerry Lucas as the only players in NBA history with two triple-doubles in the first three games of a season. That inexperience showed against better competition in the postseason, when Westbrook drew heavy criticism for taking over too much of a scoring role at the expense of his all-world teammate Kevin Durant. He set a career high with 20 rebounds against Memphis on Apr. He is also widely known for playing at a high level of intensity and for being able to keep that intensity for the majority of his playing time. Westbrook played well through Christmas Day, when he registered a triple-double with 14 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in a victory over the Knicks. [96] On January 25, he scored a season-high 46 points in a 121–112 win over the Washington Wizards. [82] He, along with LeBron James, is the only player to record a triple-double against every NBA team. Westbrook may continue to develop as a scoring guard and hand over some of the ball-handling responsibility to James Harden or Eric Maynor, or simply learn to pick his spots better. The program is aimed at providing digital job skills to at-risk young adults. The 2008 lottery pick continued to display his versatile skill-set, tying for 13th in the league with 31 double-doubles and falling one short of the NBA lead with three triple-doubles. For the second straight season, Russell Westbrook played in all 82 games -- each as a starter -- … NBA DFS action on Tuesday, Feb. 2, locks at 7:00 p.m. EST with a scintillating six-game main slate. The organization's mission is "to inspire the lives of children, empower them to ask 'Why Not?' In July, Westbrook tested positive for COVID-19,[144] but he recovered and was able to join his team later that month in Orlando, Florida, for the league's restart. He is a nine-time NBA All-Star and earned the NBA Most Valuable Player Award for the 2016–17 season. In his first season with the Rockets, Westbrook appeared in 57 games (all starts) and averaged 35.9 minutes per contest. Efficiency aside, Westbrook's raw numbers continue to fuel his fantasy value. The Thunder were eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round, but Westbrook played well, posting per-game averages of 20.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists in the six-game series. In 2017, the year he won the league MVP award, Westbrook became one of two players in NBA history to average a triple-double for a season, along with Oscar Robertson in 1962. The Thunder were determined to keep Westbrook and held off all trade talks in order to work out an extension. His 138 regular season triple-doubles is ranked equal second-most all time and his 10 playoff triple-doubles is tied for fourth-most all time. [138] On January 3, 2020, Westbrook became the third player in NBA history with 19,000 points, 6,000 rebounds, and 7,000 assists after a 20-point, 7-rebound, and 4-assist performance. This is all to ask the question: Will Westbrook trend closer to his MVP production with Melo elsewhere? [4] On December 7, 2019, Westbrook got his third consecutive triple-double with 24 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists on 10-of-18 shooting after going 14-of-57 in the previous two games. Signed a two-year rookie contract with the Seattle Supersonics. UCLA advanced to the Final Four during each of Westbrook's seasons with the team. 1 world ranking. He is a nine-time NBA All-Star and earned the NBA Most Valuable Player Award for the 2016–17 season. [132], On July 16, 2019, Westbrook was traded to the Houston Rockets for All-Star Chris Paul, two protected first-round picks and other draft considerations. Westbrook was selected to his fifth straight All-Star Game and was named All-Star MVP for the second consecutive season with a 31-point performance that included eight rebounds, five assists and five steals. UCLA once again advanced to the Final Four, and Westbrook averaged 13.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the Big Dance. Russell Westbrook was selected by the Seattle Supersonics with the fourth pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. It’s an answer we won't get until we're in the season. Following Durant’s surprising decision to bolt for the Warriors in July, Westbrook figures to revert to production similar to what he offered in 2014-15, though the Thunder roster should be a little more balanced this time around. Westbrook averaged 23.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists in the playoffs. Probably the most reassuring thing about drafting Westbrook is that fact that he has yet to miss a game in his NBA career. It's fairly safe to assume that he'll top the league in usage this season after consistently finding himself among the league leaders even when Durant around. He finished the season averaging 12.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.6 steals. After starting every regular-season game during his first five years in the league, Westbrook opened the 2013-14 campaign recovering from surgery to his right knee. Westbrook's bloated contract was thought by some to be untradable, but Houston was willing to take the chance to pair him with James Harden, another former MVP. Schroder averaged 17.1 shots last season, but was the No. He helped Houston advance to the semifinals, where they were eliminated 4–1 by the Lakers. Russell Westbrook is a 32-year old American professional basketball player who plays at the Point Guard or Shooting Guard position for the Washington Wizards in the NBA.He was the 4th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft selected by the Oklahoma City Thunder.His 2020-21 season salary is $41,358,814. In Round 2 against the Lakers, Westbrook averaged 19.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.0 steals. Our historical fantasy ratings are standard scores calculated using 8-Category settings with 12 teams and 13 players per team. This was just the eighth triple-double on Christmas Day in NBA history. Although Westbrook was clearly bothered by the injury, he would continue playing and finished the game with 29 points. The 25-year-old, who has had three different surgeries on his right knee over the past couple years, decided to sit out the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in order to get additional time to rest and prepare for the start of the season. [157] Though attacking the rim is his forte, he will frequently pull up for medium-range jump shots. In a Game 4 loss, Westbrook scored a playoff career-high 43 points.[20]. [165] Westbrook's three-point shooting and turnovers are often brought to attention when pundits criticize his game. He scored a career playoff-high 43 points, complemented by seven rebounds and five assists, in a losing effort in Game 4 of the Finals. The guard averaged a triple-double for an unprecedented third straight season behind 22.9 points, 11.1 rebounds and 10.7 assists per contest. He's averaged a triple-double for the past three seasons -- a streak Westbrook will likely try to continue for as long as possible. He has won gold medals as a member of Team USA at the 2012 Olympics and the 2010 FIBA World Cup. Over the summer, general manager Sam Presti traded Anthony and his 15.0 shots per game for Dennis Schroder. Westbrook might be the top point guard of his generation--a group that includes 2011 MVP Derrick Rose. Westbrook will see significant minutes as the team evaluates whether he is indeed the point guard of the future. He had 30 points, matched a career-high with 17 assists and grabbed 11 rebounds for his seventh triple-double of the season and 15th of his career. [17] He was named to the NBA's NBA All-Rookie First Team. However, he tore his meniscus in Game 2 of the series and was ruled out for the remainder of the postseason. 11, collected at least 20 assists in two separate contests and, in the process, Westbrook led Oklahoma City to the playoffs. Westbrook shot 44.9 percent from the floor, which was the second-best shooting mark of his career. [33] After being injured the previous year, Westbrook returned to the All-Star game in 2015. [31], After tying a career-high 45 points on February 4, 2015 in a 102–91 win over the New Orleans Pelicans,[32] Westbrook broke that mark to score a new career-high of 48 points two days later, this time in a 116–113 loss to the Pelicans. [29] On January 16, 2015, Westbrook recorded his ninth career triple-double with 17 points, 15 rebounds and a career-high 17 assists in a 127–115 win over the Golden State Warriors,[30] becoming just the fifth player in NBA history to record a stat line of 15–15–15 in a game. [133] The move reunited Westbrook with former teammate James Harden; they both expressed mutual interest and enthusiasm in playing together at this stage in their careers. To begin the 2015–16 season, Westbrook and Kevin Durant both dropped 40 points against the Orlando Magic on October 30, becoming the first teammates in NBA history to do so multiple times, having previously done it in 2012.