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Russell Westbrook, former UCLA star, retires after 18 NBA seasons
By Ethan Stone
Published:
Former UCLA star point guard Russell Westbrook has retired from the NBA after 18 seasons of professional basketball. Westbrook announced his intention to retire via his social media account on Wednesday:
Westbrook starred for UCLA from 2006-2008, eventually winning the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year award in 2008. He was drafted 4th overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder, and he spent 11 seasons with the Thunder before starting a journeyman end to his pro career.
Westbrook played for 6 teams across his final 7 seasons in the NBA. He first played for the Rockets before landing in Washington with the Wizards. He played 1 and a half seasons with the Lakers and was picked up by the Clippers after being traded to the Jazz midway through the 2022-23 season. He then played 1 more season with the Clippers before his penultimate stop in Denver and his final stop in Sacramento last season.
Across Westbrook’s career he totaled 9 all-star nods and was the NBA scoring champ twice. He won the 2017 NBA MVP and a Gold Medal with the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team.
Finally, Westbrook is the all-time NBA leader in regular season triple-doubles with 209. Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, it’s worth noting, currently has 198.
Ethan Stone was an editor for his student newspaper at the University of Tennessee and is now a News Manager for Saturday Tradition.