Washington Wizards guard Russell Westbrook has officially become the NBA's all-time leader in triple-doubles.
Needing just one to reach his 182nd career triple-double and surpass Oscar Robertson's 181, Westbrook achieved the feat during Monday's game against the Atlanta Hawks. In the absence of Bradley Beal, Brodie took matters into his own hands and produced his usual output, reaching the mark in the fourth quarter of the contest. He finished the game with 28 points, 13 rebounds and 21 assists.
1️⃣8️⃣2️⃣ TRIPLE-DOUBLES
Russell Westbrook has officially passed Oscar Robertson for the all-time NBA triple-double record
WHY NOT? pic.twitter.com/RdfVBXLzJf
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 11, 2021
NBA history: Wizards’ Russell Westbrook has surpassed Oscar Robertson to become No. 1 on the all-time triple-double list.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 11, 2021
To be fair, the feat has long been expected after Russell Westbrook started propelling the Wizards on a winning run alongside Beal in the second half of the season. In fact, in the last 10 games prior to Monday's outing, he averaged a triple-double of 23.7 points, 13.8 rebounds and 14.3 assists. On the season, he has been putting up another triple-double campaign with 22.6-11.6.-11.5 averages.
While several basketball analysts like Stephen A. Smith of ESPN have criticized Westbrook for being a stat-padder and not really impacting winning, no one can deny the difficulty of his achievement. As Westbrook said previously, if anyone can do it, they would have probably done it and we'll not be talking about how incredible it is for him to break Robertson's record.
For what it's worth, Robertson has long been supportive of the Wizards guard. In fact, the Big O recently expressed his hope that Westbrook would be able to get it while defending him from his haters.
“There’s no doubt about it. I hope he gets it. I think he’s one of the elite guards in basketball, and I think it’s ridiculous that some sportswriters criticize him because he has not won a championship. Players don’t win championships by themselves. You’ve got to have good management. You need to get with the right group of players,” Robertson said of Westbrook's triple-double streak and the criticisms against him.
With Westbrook leading the way, the Wizards have put themselves in play-in contention. So much for not impacting winning, huh?
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