Westbrook’s Triple-Doubles Have Saved the Wizards’ Season
Critics of Russell Westbrook often accuse him of “stat-padding”, a selfish playstyle focused on stuffing the box score rather than team success. However, Westbrook’s style of play isn’t just for show. The Wizards are at their best when Westbrook is recording triple-doubles, and his recent performance has catapulted Washington into the play-in tournament.
On May 10, Westbrook became the NBA’s new all-time leader in triple-doubles, recording his 182nd to pass Oscar Robertson. Since then, Westbrook added two more in the Wizards’ final three games of the regular season. In total, Westbrook’s teams are 138–46 when he records a triple-double, winning exactly 75% of the time. Of NBA players with at least 184 career games played, no one has a winning percentage that high.
It’s been a similar story this season. The Wizards are 23–15 when Westbrook records a triple-double and just 11–23 when he doesn’t. And after starting the season 17–32, Washington went 17–6 down the stretch, rising from 13th in the Eastern Conference to 8th and posting the NBA’s second-best record in that span. The Wizards now have two attempts to win just one game in the play-in tournament and secure a spot in the playoffs.
In those final 23 games of the regular season, Westbrook averaged an astounding 23 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 14 assists per game, recording 19 triple-doubles along the way. His 14 triple-doubles in the month of April set a new NBA record, surpassing Wilt Chamberlain’s 11 in March 1968.
The stretch included two 20-rebound performances and two 20-assist nights. He even did both in the same game on May 3 against the Pacers, when Westbrook finished with 14 points (on an efficient 5–8 from the field), 21 rebounds, and 24 assists, becoming the only player in NBA history to have multiple career triple-doubles with at least 20 points and 20 assists.
On the final day of the regular season with the 8-seed on the line, Westbrook did what he does better than anyone to ever play. He captured his 38th triple-double of the season in a 115–110 win over the Hornets.
NBA fans are so used to Westbrook’s dominance that he has become underrated. He has taken the triple-double, something incredibly difficult to do in a game, and made it commonplace. When he averaged a triple-double in the 2016–17 season, it was the first time someone had accomplished the feat since Oscar Robertson in 1961–62, and Westbrook won the MVP award.
Since then, Westbrook has averaged a triple-double three more times, somewhat numbing fans to the feat. And when Westbrook passed Robertson for first place on the all-time triple-doubles list, he did so in 100 fewer games and in an era with a slower pace.
The Wizards exceeded their preseason betting win total and now have an opportunity to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2017–18 season. This has happened despite starting center Thomas Bryant playing just 10 games before tearing his ACL.
Weeks before the season, the Wizards made a significant move in trading point guard John Wall, the #1 pick in the 2010 NBA Draft who had spent his entire career in Washington, to the Rockets in a deal for Westbrook. While it took the Wizards time to finally reach their potential, it now seems clear that they got the better end of the trade, as the Rockets finished the regular season with the worst record in the league and Wall has hinted at a desire to leave Houston.
Russell Westbrook is a uniquely talented player, one of the most athletic and entertaining guards the league has ever seen. While his jump shooting remains a noticeable weakness, downplaying Westbrook’s performance or labeling him as a stat-padder neglects the clear correlation between his triple-doubles and the success of his teams. Without Westbrook, the Wizards’ season would’ve been finished already.
Connor Groel is a graduate student at Northwestern’s Medill School. He is the editor of the Top Level Sports publication on Medium and host of the Slept On Sports podcast. His debut collection is available on Amazon.
