Russell Westbrook

Russell Westbrook Jr. (born November 12, 1988) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Westbrook played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins and was selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft by theSeattle SuperSonics who then relocated to Oklahoma City six days later. The point guard is a four-time NBA All-Star, and he was named the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 2015. He is also a three-timeAll-NBA Second Team member. Westbrook has also represented the United States on their national teamtwice, winning gold medals in the 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2012 Olympics.

NBA career

Oklahoma City Thunder
2012–13 season
Westbrook was once again selected for the NBA All-Star Game. He finished the 2012–13 season averaging 23.2 points, 7.4 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. Westbrook helped lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to the playoffs and the #1 seed in the Western Conference. They would go on to face the 8th seedHouston Rockets in the first round.

On April 25, 2013, in the second game of the series, Westbrook injured his right knee when Rockets guard Patrick Beverley collided with him in an attempt to steal the ball. Although Westbrook was clearly bothered by the injury, he would continue playing and finished the game with 29 points. It was then revealed the next day that he had suffered a slight tear in his right meniscus. He had surgery on April 27, 2013, and was declared out for the rest of the playoffs. Without Westbrook, the Thunder defeated the Rockets in 6 games but fell to the Memphis Grizzlies in 5 games in the next round. Westbrook was named to the All-NBA Second Teamfor the third consecutive year.

2013–14 season
Prior to the start of the 2013–14 season, Westbrook had a second surgery on his right knee, which set back his return to basketball. Despite reports that he would miss the first two weeks of the regular season, Westbrook would miss only the first two games. On December 25, 2013, Westbrook recorded 14 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists as Oklahoma City beat the New York Knicks 123-94. This was just the eighth triple-double on Christmas Day in NBA history. The win was also the largest margin of victory in a Christmas Day game in NBA history.

On the day after his Christmas-day game, it was announced that Westbrook would undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and would be out until after the All-Star break. During this time, The Thunder were able to remain competitive despite his absence due mainly to Kevin Durant's stellar play. Westbrook returned to the lineup on February 20, 2014. He played the rest of the season on limited minutes and sat out the second night of back-to-backs.

On March 4, 2014, Westbrook recorded his second triple-double of the season. He recorded 13 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds, in just 20 minutes in a 125–92 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. This was the second fastest recorded triple-double in NBA history.

Westbrook and the Thunder finished with a 59-23 record earning the #2 seed in the Western Conference. They advanced to the Western Conference Finals where they faced the San Antonio Spurs. On May 27, 2014, in a game 4 victory, Westbrook recorded 40 points, 5 rebounds, 10 assists and 5 steals. In doing so, he joined Michael Jordan as the only other player to post those numbers in a playoff game. The Thunder lost the series to the eventual NBA-champion Spurs in six games. Westbrook averaged 26.7 points, 8.1 assists, and 7.3 rebounds in the postseason, and became the first player since Oscar Robertson in 1964 to average at least 26 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds in the playoffs.

2014–15 season

After scoring 38 points in the 89-106 season-opening loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, Westbrook suffered a small fracture of the second metacarpal in his right hand the following game against the Los Angeles Clippers and subsequently missed 14 games with the injury. He joined Kevin Durant on the sidelines after Durant fractured his right foot during preseason and was ruled out for 6–8 weeks. With the pair both inactive for the start of the season, the Thunder dropped to a 4-12 record prior to Westbrook's return on November 28 against the New York Knicks. In Westbrook's first game back, he led the Thunder to a win over the Knicks with a 32-point, 7-rebound, and 8-assist performance. Durant returned the following game to face the New Orleans Pelicans in Westbrook and Durant's first game played together on the season. They went on to lead the Thunder on a seven-game winning streak to bring the Thunder back into playoff contention. On December 23, against the Portland Trail Blazers, Westbrook scored a season-high 40 points, along with 10 rebounds and 6 assists, in the 111-115 overtime loss. On January 16, 2015, Westbrook recorded his ninth career triple-double with 17 points, 15 rebounds, and a career-high 17 assists in the 127-115 win over the Golden State Warriors, becoming just the fifth person in NBA history to record a stat line of 15-15-15 in a game.

After tying a career-high 45 points on February 4, 2015 in a 102–91 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, Westbrook broke that mark to score a new career-high of 48 points two days later, this time in a 113–116 loss to the Pelicans. After being injured the previous year, Westbrook returned to the All-Star game in 2015. He tallied 41 points, and was named the All-Star MVP. He scored 27 points in 11 minutes in the first half, setting an All-Star record for points in a half. He finished one point shy of the All-Star game record set by Wilt Chamberlain (42) in 1962.

On February 22, Westbrook recorded 21 points and tied a career-high 17 assists in the 119-94 win over the Denver Nuggets. Two days later, he recorded 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in the 105-92 win over the Indiana Pacers. In doing so he claimed his third triple-double of the season and 11th of his career despite resting for the entire fourth quarter. On February 26, Westbrook scored 39 points in his 12th career triple-double (14 rebounds and 11 assists) but missed what would have been the game-tying layup with 5.7 seconds left in overtime as the Phoenix Suns defeated the Thunder 117-113 to snap the Thunder's seven-game winning streak. The following game against Portland on February 27, Westbrook recorded 40 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists to become the first player to string together three triple-doubles since LeBron James in 2009. Westbrook finished the month of February averaging 31.2 points, 9.1 rebounds and 10.3 assists per game, and became just the second player in NBA history to average 30 points, 9 rebounds and 10 assists per game for a calendar month with at least 10 games played, joining Oscar Robertson, who accomplished the feat multiple times.

On March 4, Westbrook set career highs with 49 points and 16 rebounds, and added 10 assists for his fourth consecutive triple-double, helping the Thunder defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 123-118 in overtime. He subsequently became the first player since Michael Jordan in 1989 to have four consecutive triple-doubles, and the first since Jordan that year to have back-to-back triple-doubles with at least 40 points. It was also the most points by any player with a triple-double since Larry Bird also scored 49 in 1992. His streak came to an end the following night against the Chicago Bulls as he recorded 43 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists in a 105-108 loss.

International career

In 2010, he was on the FIBA World Championship team in Istanbul, Turkey where Team USA won gold for the first time since 1994. Westbrook later played for the 2012 Summer Olympic team in London, where he also won a gold medal.

Player profile

Westbrook is a 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) point guard who has established himself as one of the most athletic players in NBA history. He attacks the basket relentlessly with an incredible ability to finish at the rim. With his opponents' knowledge of Westbrook's will to attack the rim, he will frequently pull up for the medium range jump shot. Westbrook creates good scoring opportunities for his teammates resulting in him averaging 7.0 assists per game for his career. He is also one of the best rebounding guards in the league, averaging 5.1 rebounds for his career. Add to that, his willingness to defend the opposing team's best guard, Westbrook is widely recognized as one of the best all-around guards in the NBA. A weakness cited in Westbrook's game is his three-point shooting. He has averages 30.1% on three-point field goal attempts for his career.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/