Background and career
Russell Westbrook III (born November 12, 1988) is an American former professional basketball player who played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Known for his agility, intensity and explosiveness, he is considered one of the greatest point guards in NBA history. Westbrook is a nine-time NBA All-Star and earned the NBA Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) for the 2016–17 season. He is also a nine-time All-NBA Team member; a two-time NBA scoring leader, having led the league in 2014–15 and 2016–17; a three-time NBA assists leader; and a back-to-back NBA All-Star Game MVP. Westbrook is one of three players in NBA history to average a triple-double for a season, a feat he achieved four times and is the all-time NBA leader in career triple-doubles. He also holds the record for the most career rebounds by a guard. In 2021, Westbrook was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. Westbrook played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins and earned third-team all-conference honors in the Pac-10. He was selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, who then relocated to Oklahoma City that same week. Westbrook played for the Thunder for 11 seasons and is the franchise's all-time leading scorer. He appeared in the NBA Finals as a member of the Thunder in 2012, losing to the Miami Heat. In 2019, Westbrook was traded to the Houston Rockets, playing one season for the organization before being traded again to the Washington Wizards in 2020. After a season in Washington, he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2021. Following two relatively disappointing seasons there, he was traded to and bought out by the Utah Jazz before signing with the Los Angeles Clippers later in the 2022–23 season. In the summer of 2024, he was again traded to the Utah Jazz and waived preceding his signing with the Denver Nuggets for the 2024–25 season, followed by his signing with the Sacramento Kings for the 2025–26 season. Following the 2026 season, Westbrook retired, concluding his 18 year career. Westbrook represented the United States national team twice, winning gold medals on their 2010 FIBA World Championship and 2012 Olympic teams.
Russell Westbrook III was born in Long Beach, California, to Russell Westbrook Jr. and Shannon Horton. He has a younger brother named Raynard. Growing up in Hawthorne, Westbrook and his best friend Khelcey Barrs III had hopes of going to UCLA and playing together. At age 16, Barrs was already known to have excellent basketball skills and received college scholarship offers. In May 2004, Barrs died from an enlarged heart during a pick-up game. After Barrs' death, Westbrook seemed even more determined to excel in honor of his best friend's memory. Westbrook never fails to wear a "KB3" wristband in loving memory of his best friend.
Westbrook entered Leuzinger High School as a point guard who stood only 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) tall and weighed only 140 pounds (64 kg), although he did have large (size 14) feet. He did not start on his school's varsity team until his junior year, and did not receive his first college recruiting letter until the summer before his senior year. Westbrook attained his adult height of 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) that same summer. During his senior year, Westbrook averaged 25.1 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.1 steals, and 2.3 assists and helped lead them to a 25–4 record. That same season, he recorded 14 double-doubles, scored 30 or more points on eight occasions, and registered a career-best 51 points at Carson on January 6, 2006. Westbrook initially did not attract much attention from top college basketball programs. After his height increased, contributing to him averaging more than 25 points per game and becoming a solid college basketball prospect, coach Ben Howland recruited him to play for the UCLA Bruins. Westbrook declined other offers while waiting for the Bruins' Jordan Farmar to leave early for the NBA and free up a scholarship.
Upon arriving at the University of California, Los Angeles, Westbrook's high school jersey number 4 was already taken by Arron Afflalo, so Westbrook wore number 0 throughout his time with the Bruins. As a freshman in 2006–07, he played as a backup to Darren Collison and was primarily used as a defender and energy player off the bench. Westbrook averaged 3.4 points, 0.8 rebounds, and 0.7 assists on the year. During the off-season, he trained extensively, both in the weight room and in the gym, where he faced NBA veterans who visited Los Angeles. The next season, Collison was injured and Westbrook was named the starter. He finished the season averaging 12.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.6 steals. At the end of the year, he was named third-team All-Pac-10 and was voted the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year. UCLA advanced to the Final Four during each of Westbrook's seasons with the team. In 2007, they lost to eventual national champion Florida, 76–66, and in 2008, they lost 78–63 to Memphis. After two years with the Bruins, Westbrook decided to forgo his final two years of eligibility and enter the 2008 NBA draft. He stayed in school and finished the quarter, a rarity for high draft picks declaring early for the draft.
Westbrook was selected fourth overall in the 2008 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, which then relocated to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder six days later. He signed with the team on July 5, 2008. Westbrook was again unable to wear his old number 4 jersey, as Nick Collison was already wearing it, so instead he wore 0 again. He would not wear the number 4 jersey until the 2023–24 season. On March 2, 2009, Westbrook recorded his first career triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. He was the first rookie since Chris Paul and the third rookie in Sonics/Thunder franchise history (Art Harris and Gary Payton) to record a triple-double. Westbrook averaged 15.3 points, 5.3 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game in his rookie season. He finished fourth in the 2008–09 NBA Rookie of the Year voting and was named to the NBA's NBA All-Rookie First Team. In his second season, and his first season as a full-time starter, Westbrook averaged 16.1 points, 8.0 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game. The Thunder made a huge turnaround by more than doubling their wins from the previous season and qualified for the playoffs with a 50–32 record. The Thunder were eliminated by the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in the first round. In the series, Westbrook stepped up his play from the regular season, averaging 20.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 3.2 steals.
On November 26, 2010, Westbrook scored a then-career-high 43 points against the Indiana Pacers. Westbrook was selected by NBA head coaches to be a Western Conference reserve for the 2011 NBA All-Star Game. This was his first all-star appearance. Westbrook finished the season with averages of 21.9 points, 8.2 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.9 steals. He was named to the All-NBA Second Team for the first time. The Thunder finished the season at 55–27 and lost to the eventual world champion Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals. Westbrook averaged 23.8 points, 6.4 assists, and 5.4 rebounds in the playoffs. Due to the lockout, the 2011–12 season would start on Christmas Day. On January 9, 2012, Westbrook would sign a 5-year, $80 million extension to keep him in Oklahoma City through the 2016–17 season. On February 9, was again selected by the coaches to participate in the 2012 NBA All-Star Game. On March 23, 2012, he scored a career-high 45 points in a 149–140 double overtime win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. 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. Westbrook helped lead the Thunder to the NBA Finals for the first time since the franchise relocated, but they would lose in five games to the Miami Heat. On June 12, in Game 1 of the Finals, Westbrook recorded 27 points and 11 assists in a 105–94 victory. In a Game 4 loss, Westbrook scored a playoff career-high 43 points.
