Russell Westbrook is calling it a career.
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After 18 seasons of playing basketball at approximately 100 miles per hour, the former NBA MVP announced Wednesday that he's stepping away from the game.
Westbrook shared the news through a social media video narrated by Michael B. Jordan. The word "retirement" isn't actually spoken, but Westbrook's accompanying message left little doubt.
"Sometimes you don't even know when you've already watched the end," he wrote. "You had to be there. And now it's over."
Sometimes you don’t even know when you’ve already watched the end.
You had to be there. And now it’s over. pic.twitter.com/6YoOW8WyIV
— Russell Westbrook (@russwest44) August 12, 2026
What a ride it was. Westbrook entered the NBA as the No. 4 overall pick out of UCLA in 2008 and became a superstar during 11 seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He later played for the Rockets, Wizards, Lakers, Clippers, Nuggets and Kings.
His greatest individual season came in 2016-17.
Westbrook averaged a triple-double, something nobody had accomplished since Oscar Robertson 55 years earlier, and was named NBA MVP. Just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, he went on to average a triple-double in three more seasons.
Westbrook retires as the NBA's all-time leader with 209 triple-doubles.
His list of accomplishments doesn't stop there. Westbrook was a nine-time All-Star and nine-time All-NBA selection, won two scoring titles, led the league in assists three times and earned an Olympic gold medal with Team USA.
He also finishes 14th in NBA history with 27,176 points and fifth with 10,351 assists.
The one thing missing was a championship. Westbrook reached the 2012 NBA Finals with Kevin Durant and James Harden in Oklahoma City but never made it back.
His final season came in Sacramento, where he averaged 15.2 points, 6.7 assists and 5.4 rebounds at age 37.
Westbrook was polarizing. He could be spectacular, frustrating and breathtaking, sometimes within the same five-minute stretch.
Boring? Never.
After 18 years, one of the NBA's great originals is walking away.
