In the 2016-17 season, Russell Westbrook took the NBA by storm. Being one of the most dominant and athletic point guards in the NBA, he averaged a triple-double in his 2016-2017 season: 31.6 points per game, 10.7 rebounds per game, and 10.4 assists per game. Although some might point to stat-padding (intentionally prioritizing one’s own points for non-winning purposes) for this fact, this isn’t true because of his circumstances at the time and the lack of help from his team. This is because during this time, Kevin Durant (KD) had just left the OKC Thunder, and as a result, they were out of key offensive players. The team was projected to finish as a 10th-12th seed in the Western Conference, with a win-loss ratio under 0.500. With everything at stake, the team was forced to rely on Westbrook, giving him the most offensive opportunities. That season, he managed to lead his team to the playoffs, break the triple-double record previously held by Oscar Robertson of 41 with 42 (while being the only person who averaged thirty points per game to do so), and bring his team up to the sixth seed, all while winning MVP of the year. Even now, his legacy still stands, as he is still the player with the most career triple-doubles of 207 in the league, beating second place by a large margin.
However, today, Russell Westbrook is nowhere near as great as he was. Even though he still gets triple-doubles occasionally, he only averages 13.5 points per game, 7.0 rebounds, and 6.9 assists per game in the 25-26 season as of December 9, 2025. On top of that, he is nowhere near as praised as he used to be, being overshadowed by better point guards such as Steph Curry and Chris Paul, who put up much more numbers than he does.
There are several contributing factors to this, but the most important is the fact that he has not adapted his play style. Being someone who is 37 years old, he still plays with the same explosiveness that he did nine years ago. He heavily relies on his athleticism, speed, and strength to attack the rim, which simply isn’t as good anymore because of his age and the injuries that he has sustained over the years. He also rarely shoots from the three-point line, which is crucial for players in the modern NBA. This is a problem because, over the years, the game has become more technical, relying on more quick, fast-paced shooting that involves mostly taking three-point shots rather than focusing on the paint, a much more physical game that relies on driving to the basket and taking midrange shots. However, it isn’t just Russell Westbrook, but nearly every player in the last decade who has been forced to adapt to this newer play style. For example, if Lebron James never became an elite three-point shooter in the years following his prime with the Miami Heat, he would most likely have never beaten Kareem-Abdul Jaabar’s all-time scoring record, and most likely wouldn’t have been able to keep up his ten+ points per game streak for so long. His team would have to rely entirely on driving or passing the ball to him, which, although it might work sometimes, would be extremely hard against teams with strong center lineups such as the San Antonio Spurs, who have Victor Wembanyama. As a player who is seven feet tall and highly agile, it would be extremely difficult to drive to the basket against him.
The second factor that caused his downfall was his lack of versatility as a player. His current play style and his play style during his prime both only worked well when Westbrook was the primary ball-handler. He had to be the one scoring on the team, or else he wouldn’t be valuable to it. This makes it extremely hard to place him on rosters with other star players. In fact, he now remains on the Sacramento Kings roster as the only star player, surrounded by players who have mostly been picked up by the free agent system.
Additionally, although he saved his team from having one of the worst finishes, his efforts only managed to bring the Thunder to an average team at best. Shortly after making the playoffs, they lost the very first round to the Houston Rockets (4-1). It is reasonable to say that during this time, there weren’t any strong players left besides Westbrook, making this mediocre finish impressive, since it was almost a nothing-to-something situation. But this logic is flawed. Other players in similar situations were able to reach far greater heights. For example, Lebron James with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017-2018, where he brought a sub-par roster to the NBA Finals, where they were defeated by the Golden State Warriors in the final game. Or, prime Derrick Rose in 2010-2011, who became the youngest MVP in NBA history at 22 years old, and helped the Bulls finish at the #1 seed.
In short, Westbrook didn’t have one of the greatest legacies of all time, but he doesn’t deserve to be hated for that. His surreal number of triple-doubles during his MVP season, and the explosive play style he used to become one of the best point guards, is something that makes him no short of a unique player. Even now, although he doesn’t put up the numbers he used to, he is still remembered as one of the most entertaining players in the league’s history and as someone who changed the game forever.
