Russell Westbrook is stepping away from the game.
The former MVP shared a video on his social media accounts, including Twitter and Instagram, that looks back on his career and signals that he plans to retire as a player. The narration in the clip comes from Michael B. Jordan and does not spell out the word retirement, but it does refer to Westbrook moving on “on (his) own terms.”
“Sometimes you don’t even know when you’ve already watched the end,” Westbrook wrote in the caption. “You had to be there. And now it’s over.”
Westbrook’s career began with huge expectations, and he delivered plenty of moments to match them. He was the No. 4 pick in the 2008 NBA draft out of UCLA and spent his first 11 seasons with the Thunder before later stops with the Rockets, Wizards, Lakers, Clippers, Nuggets, and Kings.
Over 18 seasons, the Long Beach native put together one of the most relentless statistical resumes in league history. In 1,301 regular-season games, he averaged 20.9 points, 8.0 assists, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.6 steals in 33.1 minutes per game. He also appeared in 135 playoff games, reached the NBA Finals with Oklahoma City in 2012, and got to the Western Conference finals three other times.
The accolades piled up along the way. Westbrook made nine All-Star teams, won the All-Star Game MVP twice, and earned nine All-NBA selections, including First Team honors in 2016 and 2017.
He was also the 2017 Most Valuable Player, led the league in scoring twice, led the NBA in assists three times, and earned a place on the league’s 75th anniversary team. On the international stage, he won gold with the U.S.
Olympic team in London in 2012.
His defining statistical feat came during that 2016/17 MVP season, when he became the first player since Oscar Robertson in 1962 to average a triple-double for a full year. He then did it again in three of the next four seasons.
Westbrook’s numbers leave him near the top of several all-time lists. He finishes as the NBA’s 14th all-time leading scorer with 27,176 points.
He also sits fifth in assists with 10,351, 14th in steals with 2,038, and 60th in rebounds with 9,025. His 209 triple-doubles are the most in league history, just ahead of Nikola Jokic’s 198.
His final NBA stop came in Sacramento last season, where he averaged 15.2 points, 6.7 assists, and 5.4 rebounds in 64 games, including 58 starts. The Kings reportedly wanted to bring him back as a veteran presence for rookie point guard Darius Acuff Jr., but only in a smaller role. Westbrook, who turns 38 in November, opted against that path and is choosing to end his career rather than continue in a reserve role elsewhere.
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