There may be some critiques of his style of play but Russell Westbrook has accomplished a record which is better than anyone else in the history of the NBA. Russel is a guard of the Denver Nuggets who made history on Tuesday by becoming the first-ever player to achieve 200 career triple-doubles, completing with 12 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds while his team gained victory by 122-110 in the NBA Cup against the Memphis Grizzlies.
He achieved this milestone just in time and grabbed his 10th rebound when there were only 1:17 remaining in the game. Westbrook was already the all-time leader in triple-doubles in NBA and he surpassed Oscar Robertson in 2021. His triple-double rate has declined since then which is in coincidence with his shift from a ball-dominant point guard to come off the bench.
This was just his second triple-double since he got traded from the Los Angeles Lakers in 2022-2023, and this was also the first one with the Nuggets. However, Russell Westbrook now stands alone in an impressive group, but he may soon have company, maybe not soon enough but maybe in a few years.
Who else might join Russell Westbrook in the fraternity of 200 triple-doubles?
Nikola Jokic, Russell’s teammate is the active player closest to him on the list he has 136 triple-doubles and to reach the 200 mark in his career, Jokic would be required to maintain the output he achieved in his last three seasons, where he gathered 73-triple doubles over 222 games.
This seems quite achievable as the reigning MVP shows no signs of decline because he already has six triple-doubles this season.
Lika Doncic also seems to be on the list to get 200 triple-doubles by the end of his career, as he has just accumulated 77 so far at the age of 25.
