Russell Westbrook ties LeBron James with 44th career triple-double
Westbrook is on pace for historic triple-double numbers this year.
By
Matt Moore
•
1 min read
The triple-double is a high mark in sports. It may seem arbitrary; after all, what's makes 10 assists that much better than nine? But it's still a mark of incredible production. And Russell Westbrook is likely to wind up the king of them all.
Westbrook notched his 44th career triple-double Saturday in a 106-88 win over the Pistons, finishing with 17 points, 13 rebounds and 15 assists. It ties him with LeBron James in 395 fewer games. Westbrook is on pace for 32 triple-doubles this season. To put that in perspective, that would be more in one season than Grant Hill and Michael Jordan had in their entire careers. He needs just three more to pass Larry Bird for third all-time, at age 28.
Jason Kidd, the all-time leader, finished with 107, so Westbrook is going to have to take a while to get there, and with how dependent on he is on his athleticism, that is legitimately in doubt the older he gets. But he's still on a ridiculous pace.
Westbrook is averaging 31.2 points, 9.9 rebounds and 11.2 assists per game. He and James Harden both might average a triple-double for a season while scoring over 28 points per game. Yes, you can talk about turnovers (Westbrook took the league lead over idle Harden on Saturday night with five) and his field goal percentage, which isn't great. But his overall statistical impact is incredible.
Some point to his usage and say "he always has the ball." And yet so many players could would fail to produce at this level even with Westbrook's league-leading usage mark.
Let's face it, we've never seen anything like Russell Westbrook, and however far the Thunder go, they'll go on the back of Westbrook's constant barrage of impact plays. The Thunder improved to 10-8 with their second straight win.
