Russell Westbrook made history on Wednesday night by becoming the first NBA player ever to average a triple-double in two straight season.
The Oklahoma City Thunder point guard needed 16 rebounds in his final game of the season to round his average up to ten for the year, and he did that and more. Westbrook pulled in a career-high 20 rebounds on the night against the Memphis Grizzlies, solidifying his claim as the only player to ever average a triple-double in back-to-back seasons.
Russell Westbrook has once again averaged a triple-double for a season. But the public doesn’t seem as impressed this time. Why is that? pic.twitter.com/LzuiFtvj3U
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) April 12, 2018
“I’m very, very thankful and blessed to go out and compete,” Westbrook said after the game. “Like I’ve said many, many times, I don’t take this game for granted, I don’t take going on the floor competing for granted, and God got something planned for me, man, nobody can stop it, and I always continue to follow his faith and stay faithful and stay strong and continue to do what I’m doing.”
He did have some help closing it out though. Several of Westbrook’s teammates backed off of rebounds allowing him to seal the deal, which he acknowledged after the game. (RELATED: Announcer Says Westbrook Is ‘Out Of His Cotton-Picking Mind’)
“Unbelievable, man,” Westbrook said. “A great group of guys from last year, and this year, the support, everything they’ve done for me, I don’t take it for granted. I try to make their jobs easier as much as possible, they make my job easy as well, and we’re going to continue to keep this thing going.”
Russell Westbrook exits the game to congratulations after securing his triple-double average for the season! #ThunderUp
TICKETS https://t.co/FZAFEdI0LN pic.twitter.com/OLLMZFkf5P
— NBA (@NBA) April 12, 2018
Last season was Westbrook’s first without Kevin Durant sharing the court with him and everyone was watching. The Oklahoma City star was a one-man highlight reel throughout the year on his way to his first triple-double season. This year most people didn’t pay as close attention, but it was more of the same from Westbrook.
“It’s amazing last year everybody tracked it, and this year nobody did,” Thunder head coach Billy Donovan said. “I think it speaks to his greatness as a player. The fact that he can impact the game in a lot of different ways, it’s incredible to be able to do that for two consecutive seasons. Maybe because of Oscar Robertson, it was so long before somebody was able to do that. What was really amazing to me, that even if he didn’t get the 16 rebounds, the fact that he was that close again, in the second year, was amazing to me.”
