For the second year in a row, Russell Westbrook finished off the regular season averaging a triple-double - making him the first player in NBA history to average double-digit totals across the three main statistical categories more than once.
It was only one year ago that Westbrook became a virtual lock for the Most Valuable Player award upon securing the league's first season-long triple-double since Oscar Robertson's 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 11.4 assists earned him the distinction in the 1961-62 season.
Heading into the week most doubted that the OKC superstar would accomplish the feat again seeing how he was 34 rebounds short of the number he needed at the time to get over the 10.0 average mark in the rebounds column. But sure enough, he proved his doubters wrong.
Westbrook pulled down 18 boards in Monday's matchup against the Miami Heat, leaving him 16 shy of the plateau, with one game left on the schedule. With 9:21 on the clock in the third quarter of Wednesday's (April 11) Grizzlies game, the Chesapeake Energy Arena crowd rose to its feet as fans witnessed the 7-time All-Star grab the historic rebound off of a Kobi Simmons airball.
He would finish the game with 6 points, 19 assists, and 20 boards en route to a 137-123 Thunder win, and an unprecedented footnote in basketball lore.
Source: espn.com
