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Russell Westbrook has announced his retirement from the NBA after 18 seasons with seven teams.
"Sometimes you don't even know when you've already watched the end," the 37-year-old Westbrook wrote in his post, which contained a video of his career narrated by actor Michael B. Jordan. "You had to be there. And now it's over."
Westbrook was taken fourth overall in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, but the franchise relocated to OKC and became the Thunder less than one week later.
He played 11 seasons with the Thunder, helping lead them to the 2012 NBA Finals and nine playoff appearances. He earned local legend status in 2016 when he signed a contract extension just one month after Kevin Durant left OKC in free agency.
During the 2016-17 season, he became the first player since Oscar Robertson in 1962 to average a triple-double for a full season, putting up 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists to capture the MVP award. He posted an NBA-record 42 triple-doubles that season.
Westbrook, a nine-time All-Star, has career averages of 20.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 8.0 assists per game and holds the NBA record for most career triple-doubles with 209, surpassing Oscar Robertson's long-standing mark of 181 in 2021. It was a record that had stood since 1974.
The Thunder traded George to the LA Clippers and Westbrook to the Houston Rockets before the 2019-20 season, replenishing their asset base and rebuilding the core of what would become the 2025 NBA champions.
"Russell Westbrook is the ultimate competitor," Thunder general manager Sam Presti said in a statement. "His internal belief and unbridled fearlessness helped establish the foundation of our organization from day one in 2008, and he elevated the confidence and inspired our community in every year thereafter."
Westbrook retires fifth in NBA history in career assists, behind John Stockton, Chris Paul, Jason Kidd and James. He is 14th on the NBA's career scoring list with 27,176 points. The only three active players ahead of him are James, Durant, and Harden.
