Russell Westbrook’s No. 0 hanging in the rafters feels less like a question than a countdown.
The Oklahoma City Thunder haven’t done it yet, but after Westbrook called it a career on Aug. 12 following 18 seasons, the finish line is in sight. He leaves at 37 as one of the defining NBA stars of the 2010s, and his best stretch came in Oklahoma City, where he spent his first 11 seasons and built a résumé that screams jersey retirement: one MVP, eight All-Star nods, eight All-NBA selections, two scoring titles and three assist titles.
What Westbrook did to the triple-double also changed the way the league looked at the stat. It stopped feeling rare because he made it routine, averaging one four times in a five-year span.
That alone would have made him a Thunder icon. Add in the team success, and the case gets even stronger.
He and Kevin Durant helped make Oklahoma City one of the league’s most prominent title threats in the 2010s, with one NBA Finals appearance and four trips to the Western Conference Finals in eight years together.
So if the Thunder choose to retire No. 0 during the 2026-27 regular season, which date makes the most sense? There are five especially appealing options.
The cleanest one is Oct. 22 against the Nuggets in the home opener on ESPN. If Oklahoma City wants to ride the wave of Westbrook tributes while the buzz is still fresh, that’s the spot.
The Denver connection runs deep, too. Westbrook set Oscar Robertson’s triple-double record in OKC’s win over Denver in April 2017, when he delivered a 50-point triple-double and buried the deep 3-pointer at the buzzer.
That game is still viewed as his best ever. The Nuggets also happened to be the team he finished his playoff career with, serving as their Sixth Man during their 2025 run and feeding Aaron Gordon for Game 1’s winner.
With several of those Denver faces still around, the ceremony could carry a full-circle feel.
Another strong option comes on Dec. 31, when the Heat visit. New Year’s Eve has long been a lively home date in Oklahoma City, and it would give the Thunder a chance to close out the calendar year with Westbrook’s moment.
The source material also draws a line to Giannis Antetokounmpo, who showed his love for Westbrook after retirement and whose own departure from Milwaukee is described here as part of a “2019 equivalent summer.” The comparison is simple enough: two stars who became everything to their franchises, then eventually moved on.
Jan. 13 against the Rockets might be the most emotionally loaded choice. Durant’s relationship with Thunder fans remains complicated, but his letter about Westbrook’s retirement is described here as beautiful.
Time has softened the edges, and this date would let Oklahoma City look back on what Durant and Westbrook built together while also acknowledging Steven Adams, another former Thunder favorite now with Houston. Adams was one of Westbrook’s preferred pick-and-roll partners, and Westbrook’s 2019-20 season in Houston is framed here as one of his final years at full strength.
This is the one that feels built for a ceremony with real weight.
Then there’s Feb. 13 against the Sixers, which the piece treats as the pure troll choice. Philadelphia has one of the league’s heaviest national-TV loads, and this game is on Amazon Prime.
The bigger hook is LeBron James being in the building when Westbrook’s number goes up. Their rivalry was never as direct as some others, but the Lakers chapter left plenty of residue, with the source suggesting Westbrook became the scapegoat for that team’s failures after James had helped bring him there.
Finally, there’s Apr. 9 against the Warriors in the home finale. Normally, that kind of late-season game doesn’t carry much drama, especially for a Thunder team expected to have its seed locked in by then.
The source projects Oklahoma City and San Antonio as the top teams in the West, both pushing toward 60 wins. But this one would give fans a final regular-season sendoff before the playoffs, and Stephen Curry being there would add another layer.
Westbrook and Curry spent the 2010s as rivals in a way that was fierce without turning ugly, which makes the matchup a fitting backdrop for a night about legacy.
However the Thunder choose to do it, the stage is already obvious. Westbrook gave them everything: production, spectacle and a style that changed the rhythm of the game. The only real mystery now is when they make No. 0 official.
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For Oklahoma City followers, the larger point lands close to home because Westbrook has long been one of the most polarizing stars to ever wear the uniform. Greens frustration centered on how often Westbrook was underrated in real time, even as his contributions were piling up season after season. The reaction now is less about revisiting old arguments and more about whether the league finally appreciates what Thunder fans watched up close for years. [Read more 🡒]