The Oklahoma City Thunder will welcome back arguably the best player in franchise history when Russell Westbrook and the Houston Rockets come to town on Thursday night.

Westbrook became one of the best point guards in the NBA in 11 seasons with the Thunder. “The Brodie” made eight All-Star teams and eight All-NBA teams while winning the NBA MVP Award for the 2016-17 regular season, in which he became the first player since Oscar Robertson to average a triple-double over the course of a full season.

Here are some of Westbrook's best moments with the Thunder.

The Thunder arrive

The 2011-2012 season was a changing of the guard in the Western Conference. The upstart Thunder won 47 games during the lockout-shortened season just one year after reaching the Western Conference Finals.

In the 2012 conference semifinals, they took on the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers had won back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010. However, Phil Jackson was no longer the head coach, and Kobe Bryant was approaching the end of his career. Oklahoma City swamped the Lakers in five games.

The trademark moment came in the clinching Game 5 win, when Westbrook set the Chesapeake Energy Arena on fire with an acrobatic layup:

The moment seemed to signify a passing of the torch. The Thunder would reach the NBA Finals, and in spite of their loss to the Miami Heat, it seemed they were on the cusp of a potential dynasty.

The James Harden trade changed matters quite a bit.

The Dunks

Westbrook provided more than a few highlight-reel jams during his heyday.

He was arguably the most explosive athlete in NBA history at the beginning of the 2010s, and he exhibited his athleticism on a nightly basis. Westbrook finished with ferocity in his early years:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvIBYB3swEw

The ability to jump off one foot or gather and rise up from a collective stop is astounding.

Westbrook's ability to change directions and accelerate at the drop of a hat made him one of the most exciting players in the NBA.

The MVP season

Westbrook provided a whole season full of remarkable achievements.

Westbrook became the lone star on the Thunder when Kevin Durant departed for the Golden State Warriors in the summer of 2016. He responded with one of the greatest revenge tours in league history.

Westbrook led the NBA in scoring (31.6 points) in the 2016-17 season while averaging 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists, becoming the first player to average a triple-double in a single season since Robertson accomplished the feat with the then-Cincinnati Royals in 1962.

Westbrook ranks in the top 20 for single-season PER, but there are also a number of games from that season which stand out.

Westbrook became the first player since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1975) to post a 50-point triple-double in the home opener of the 2016-17 season. He set the record for the highest-scoring triple-double (57 points) in NBA history later that season.

He also scored a career-high 58 points against the Portland Trail Blazers in March and recorded yet another 50-point triple-double against the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs.

Against the Denver Nuggets in April, Westbrook set the record for most triple-doubles in a single-season, scoring 50 points with 16 rebounds and 10 assists. He also hit a spectacular buzzer-beater:

It was the definitive moment in one of the best individual seasons in NBA history, and it cemented Westbrook's place in the record books.

The charisma

Westbrook had more than his share of trademark quotes and moments off the court.

He was often infuriated by certain lines of questioning and loathed talking about Durant or his off-court activities:

However, he also garnered a reputation as one of the more genuinely enjoyable personalities in the NBA.

From the pregame dancing to videos with his son, Noah, Westbrook has never been afraid to be himself and have fun.

The icon

Westbrook's work off the floor truly makes Westbrook so renowned in Oklahoma City. Westbrook's “Why Not” Foundation has put the focus on education and family service programs for youths since 2012.

Oklahoma City was hardly a basketball city when the franchise moved there in 2008. Westbrook helped to make it that way.

Oklahoma City mayor David Holt said this on Westbrook when he was traded last July (via Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post):

“He’s the guy that statues will be built of, that streets will be named after, that jerseys will be retired for,” he said. “He’s been a great philanthropist in our city. There’s schools all over our city that have Russell Westbrook reading rooms. Those aren’t going away. That’s something he’ll be remembered for.”