Russell Westbrook is a basketball player who is the main star of the Oklahoma City Club. Russ was born in 1988 in California. In 2006, he entered UKLA. In the 2008 NBA draft, a defender was selected under the fourth pick of the first round by a team from Oklahoma.
NBA Career
Russell is one of the best players in the league. After the draft in Oklahoma, a "big trio" formed of Westbrook, Durant and Harden. But they failed to achieve high results. Due to disagreements, James Harden went to the Houston Rockets, Westbrook and Durant formed one of the most successful tandems in league history.
Over the years, the team was able to reach the NBA finals only 1 time. In 2016, Kevin Durant left Oklahoma City , after which the role of the club's main star passed to Russell Westbrook. In 2017, he became the league’s most productive player, but that didn’t help his team compete for the playoffs. In the 2017/18 season, Thunder signed two American basketball stars. First, Paul George joined the ACS , and after a while the chief manager of the Presti team managed to barter Carderlo Anthony for McDermott and Canther, who went to the New York Knicks.
NBA Performance
The statistics of Russell Westbrook at the National Basketball Association are impressive. In the debut season, “Turtle” scored an average of 15 points per game, and the percentage of sales of the game shots was below 40%. Already in the second season, the defender was able to increase his accuracy. Together with her, the player’s performance has grown. In the third season, Russell threw from behind the arc with an accuracy of 33%. This is his best career record. For the first three years in the NBA, Westbrook played 246 matches in the regular season. In the 2008/09 season, Oklahoma did not make it to the playoffs. A year later, the team managed to enter the top 8 teams of the Western Conference, but did not manage to go far in the elimination round.
In the 2011/12 season, the team, led by Westbrook and Durant, reached the NBA finals, knocking out the current Dallas champion from the tournament. However, in the decisive round, the Oklahoma basketball players were unable to counter Miami with LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. As a result, defeat 4-2.
A year later, Russell Westbrook again went on the floor in the starting five in each of the 82 matches in the regular season. 23 points on average per game, as well as 7.5 assists, allowed Thunder to enter the playoff round.
After Durant left, Russell Westbrook gave his best career season so far. The defender in early April 2017 managed to guarantee himself a triple double on average in a season. He became the second player in the history of the National Basketball Association to whom such an achievement was submitted. After a couple of days, Russ issued his 42nd triple double of the season, setting a league record for this indicator. At the end of April, Westbrook submitted his third great achievement. The point guard issued a triple double with 51 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists in the playoff match.
In the 2017/18 season, Oklahoma played 3 games. After a home victory over the Knicks, the Thunderbolts lost back-to-back Utah and Minnesota. Having missed almost all the pre-season matches, in the first game of the season, Russell was able to arrange a triple double. Although there are players in the team who themselves like to hold the ball and throw on the ring, the ACS defender remains one of the team’s most effective players.
College statistics
Unlike the career of a professional basketball player, Russell was not very successful at college. The debut season at the NCAA defender could not bring himself into the asset. Of the 36 matches at the start, the athlete left only once.
Much more successful for Westbrook was the 2007/08 season. The basketball player reached the starting five in 34 meetings. On average, he scored almost 13 points per game, making 4 assists and collecting 4 rebounds.
Awards and Achievements
Russell Westbrook is a 6-time participant in all-star matches. From 2011 to 2013, and also in 2015, he managed to get into the second national team of all stars according to the season results, and in 2016 and 2017 - in the first. In 2015 and 2016 he was recognized as the most valuable player of the match of all stars.
In 2017, Russell became the league's best sniper, gaining nearly 32 points per game on average. This figure allowed him to win the MVP championship prize, beating James Harden.
In 2010, Westbrook as part of the American team won gold at the World Cup in Turkey. Two years later, as part of the "dream team," he managed to become the Olympic champion at the Olympic Games 2012 in London.
At the end of winter, Russell made 3 consecutive triple doubles of the season. In early spring, in a game against Philadelphia, the defender scored 4 triple doubles in a row, becoming the first player after Michael Jordan to achieve such a result.
Before the start of the 2017/18 season, Westbrook signed with the club a new 5-year contract worth $ 205 million. The agreement allowed Russell to become the highest paid player in NBA history.