After bullying boxscores for the past 13 seasons, Russell Westbrook has accomplished a feat that was once thought humanly impossible. On Monday night, the nine-time NBA All-Star etched his name in the record books when, after snatching his 10th rebound off of the rim with 8:30 remaining in the fourth quarter, he broke Oscar Robertson’s longstanding record for the most triple-doubles in NBA history, according to ESPN.
Here’s the exact moment that it happened:
And here’s the moment it was announced in the arena:
We are all witnesses.
Robertson became the triple-double king during the NBA’s 1961-62 season and collected his last triple-double on March 24, 1974. So in order to eclipse the Big O’s record, Westbrook had to do this:
A triple-double is a single-game performance by a player who accumulates a double-digit number total in three of five statistical categories—points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots—in a game.
Exactly 182 times. If that sounds absolutely fucking insane, that’s because it is.
To put this ridiculous feat into context, the next closest active player is LeBron James, who’s 36 years old and has only done this 99 times.
I think it’s safe to say that nobody will be touching Robertson’s Westbrook’s record for a while, and to commemorate this accomplishment, members of the NBA community delivered pre-recorded messages to congratulate him:
While others went directly to Twitter and gave him his flowers:
“It’s just a blessing,” Westbrook told reporters. “You put so much into the game, so much time, you sacrifice so much, to be able to just be mentioned with guys like Oscar, Magic [Johnson] and Jason Kidd, those guys, is something I never dreamed about as a young kid growing up in L.A. Truly grateful for moments like this.”
He added, “Normally I don’t like to pat myself on the back but tonight I will. Just because I am so grateful for the ones before me and so blessed.”
Expect Westbrook to continue his reign of terror in the play-in tournament, where it’s looking like his Wizards will be facing off against either the Pacers, Hornets, or Celtics.
Congrats, Brodie!
DISCUSSION
I’ve said it before, I’ll (probably) say it again: it’s incredibly impressive just in that someone did it. It’s a legitimately amazing feat. But to quote Chris Rock, “You can drive a car with your feet if you want to, don’t make it a good fuckin’ idea.”
There’s a reason he stands around on offense the ball isn’t in his hands, and cherry-picks on defense. Plenty of guys could average a triple-double if they’re basically playing their own one-man game within a game.