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Revenge is a great motivator — just ask Oklahoma City NBA star Russell Westbrook, who this week scored, passed and rebounded his way in to the history books.
Recording a triple-double for the 42nd time this year, Westbrook has now beaten Hall of Famer' Oscar Robertson's record for most triple-doubles set in 1961-2.
The 6'3 (190.5cm) point-guard from Lawndale, California is the first man in 55 years to average a triple-double.
This means he has averaged at least 10 for scoring, assists and rebounding for an entire NBA season (82 games).
The 28-year-old broke Robertson's record on the road, in a buzzer-beating win against the Denver Nuggets.
Westbrook went ballistic, scoring 50 points, 16 rebound and 10 assists, including the game-winning three-pointer before the buzzer.
To put Westbrook's record-breaking season in to perspective, he did it all by himself, without the Thunder franchise's second greatest all-time scorer and MVP Kevin Durant.
In 2015, Westbrook was forced to carry Oklahoma City's offence after Durant had a lacklustre run with injuries.
In 80 starts, Westbrook lead the league in points but was unable to will his side in to the playoffs without Durant's offence, giving many people the opinion that Westbrook could not make playoffs without Durant.
This season, Westbrook was again forced to put the Thunder on his back, but this time Durant was not returning from injury.
Durant departed to Golden State as a free agent, perhaps a coincidence, the Warriors are the same side who beat Durant and Westbrook last year in the Western Conference finals.
Betrayal spurs Westbrook's huge season
Durant's departure made Westbrook angry. His team's best scorer just joined the enemy who sent them home.
Westbrook's run to history
| Opponent | Pts | Rebs | Asts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orlando | 57 | 13 | 11 |
| San Antonio | 32 | 15 | 12 |
| Charlotte | 40 | 13 | 10 |
| Milwaukee | 12 | 13 | 13 |
| Memphis | 45 | 9 | 10 |
| Phoenix | 36 | 23 | 12 |
| Denver | 50 | 16 | 10 |
This was the spark that lit the Russell Westbrook's triple-double fire.
Westbrook has been one of the most exciting players this year and a genuine contender for the league's Most Valuable Player.
The back-to-back All Star MVP and 6-time All-star, has been controlling his team's offence in all year, whilst dominating the statistics and winning enough games to make playoffs.
Without Durant, Westbrook has averaged 31.6 points per game (ranked number one) 10.4 assists per game (third) and 10.7 rebounds per game (10th) on 30.4 minutes per game, this season while leading all in fourth quarter scoring.
Westbrook's fast pace style however can come at a cost sometimes, he is also second behind James Harden for most turnovers.
Durant's decision to jump ship to Golden State not only inspired, but forced Westbrook to improve his game to a new level or his side would not make playoffs similar to 2015.
This year Westbrook lead the league in scoring, had better rebounding numbers than most of the NBA's big men, and was able to make his team mates better by averaging the same amount of assists as when Durant was his team mate.
Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson endorsed Westbrook for Most Valuable Player in an interview with NBA writers last week.
"I don't think any of these guards could beat him in a one-on-one game. I think it's Westbrook," Robertson said.
Russell Westbrook has said that he doesn't care about the stats or the Most Valuable Player award. He said in an interview, that he doesn't care about his record breaking numbers, saying that an NBA championship is the only thing that is important to him.
The MVP this year will likely be Russell Westbrook or his former team-mate James Harden. Some NBA legends can't split the two and are calling for the first ever joint MVP.
The former team-mates will face off in round one of the NBA playoffs when third seed Houston takes on sixth seed OKC.
Topics: sport, basketball, united-states
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