Former UCLA Star and NBA's Reigning MVP Reach Uncharted Territory

Former UCLA Star and NBA’s Reigning MVP Reach Uncharted Territory

Posted by Admin January 12, 2025 NBA

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There aren’t many players to have played the game of basketball who are quite like Russell Westbrook.

The longtime NBA point guard is getting up there in age and yet is still finding ways to add triple-doubles to his long list of achievements.

On Friday, Westbrook, who is in his first season with the Denver Nuggets, recorded his third triple-double of the season, right alongside his MVP teammate, Nikola Jokic, who notched his 15th triple-double of the 2024-25 campaign.

Westbrook posted 25 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in Denver’s win over the Brooklyn Nets, while Jokic tallied 35 points, 15 assists and 12 rebounds.

It was the second time this season the two each recorded triple-doubles in the same game, as they both did so against the Utah Jazz on Dec. 30.

This means Westbrook and Jokic are now the only teammates in NBA history to have each posted a triple-double multiple times in the same season.

“I thought Russ, what he did tonight, was incredible,” said Nuggets coach Michael Malone after Friday’s contest. “Was that two triple-doubles again? Wow, that’s pretty crazy. Watching history, folks. You’re watching history. It’s the history channel.”

Westbrook signed with Denver last July, marking the sixth stop of his NBA career. So far, in what is his 17th NBA season, he is averaging 12.9 points per game, 6.8 assists and 5.0 rebounds in 37 games.

The former Bruin was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics (now Oklahoma City Thunder) with the fourth overall pick of the 2008 NBA Draft. That followed his two seasons at UCLA, where he helped lead the Bruins to back-to-back trips to the Final Four.

As a Bruin, Westbrook was named the 2007-08 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and received All-Pac-12 Third Team honors for that season as well. He was also named to the 2008 All-Pac-12 Tournament First Team.

Westbrook would spend 11 years with the Thunder, where he won a league MVP award, was selected to eight All-Star teams and averaged a triple-double in three straight seasons.

He has since had stints with the Houston Rockets, Washington Wizards, Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers.

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