Russell Westbrook

Russell Westbrook (born November 12, 1988) is an American professional basketball player currently playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the NBA. Westbrook played high school basketball for Leuzinger High School, before heading to play for UCLA. Westbrook played two years at UCLA before declaring for the 2008 NBA Draft. He was drafted by the Thunder's former incarnation, the Seattle SuperSonics, which relocated from Seattle to Oklahoma City, Westbrook was also a member of the 2010 United States national team. Over his career Westbrook has been named an All-Star, a member of the All-NBA Second Team, and the NBA All-Rookie First Team. Westbrook represented the United States in the 2010 FIBA World Championships in Turkey where he won a gold medal.

Early years

Westbrook was born in Long Beach, California to parents Russell and Shannon Horton. He has one younger brother, Raynard, and has said that he admires former Los Angeles Lakers great Earvin "Magic" Johnson. ^[1] Westbrook was a childhood friend of Khelcey Barrs, a talented young small forward who had been attracting interest from major college basketball schools as a 6-foot-6, 200 pound high school sophomore. However, Barrs collapsed and died after playing a series of late night basketball games in 2004.

Westbrook entered Leuzinger High School as an unheralded 5-foot-8, 140-pound freshman with size 14 shoes, not starting on the varsity team until his junior year.^[2] He did not receive his first college recruiting letter until the summer before his senior year. Westbrook eventually reached his adult height at 6'3" that same summer, and realized his true potential on the hardwood, dunking for the first time.^[3][4]

He led the team to a 25-4 overall record and to a CIF-SS Div. I-AA quarterfinal playoff appearance during his senior year. He averaged 25.1 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.1 steals and 2.3 assists. He also connected on 57 three-pointers and made 76.0 percent of his free throws. He collected 14 double-doubles, scored 30 or more points on eight occasions and registered a career-best 51 points at Carson on January 6, 2006. He did not attract too much attention from top college basketball programs until Ben Howland offered him a scholarship to play for the UCLA Bruins after Jordan Farmar declared for the NBA Draft. He was a high school teammate of current Golden State Warriors forward Dorell Wright while attending Leuzinger High School.

College

In his two years of playing for the UCLA Bruins, Westbrook wore number 0. In his freshman year Westbrook backed up Darren Collison and was primarily used as a defender and energy player off the bench due to his athleticism and lack of passing and shooting skills. In his freshman year Westbrook averaged 3.4 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 36 games. After Darren Collison was injured, Westbrook's role on the team expanded. Westbrook saw his minutes increase significantly, and he finished the season playing in 39 games, starting in 34 of them. In the year Westbrook averaged 12.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.6 steals. The team advanced to the Final Four each year, losing to Florida in 2007, 76-66. In the game, Westbrook played 8 minutes, scoring two points. In 2008, they lost 78-63 to the University of Memphis, who were led by Derrick Rose, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Joey Dorsey. In the game, Westbrook scored 22 points, to go along with 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.^[5] At UCLA, Westbrook played basketball with several NBA players. In his sophomore year Westbrook won Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year. At UCLA, Westbrook played with Kevin Love, who was also his roommate, as well as Darren Collison, Arron Afflalo and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. After two years at UCLA, Westbrook decided to enter his name in the 2008 NBA draft.

^[6]

NBA career

Oklahoma City Thunder (2008-Present)

He was selected 4th overall in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics (later known as the Oklahoma City Thunder due to sale of team and relocation). He signed with the team on July 5, 2008 along with D. J. White.^[7] He played with fellow Bruin Earl Watson on the Thunder team.

Westbrook was named the Western Conference Rookie of the month for December and February. In December, Westbrook averaged 15.5 points, 5.1 assists, and 5.1 rebounds. In February, Westbrook averaged 20.6 points, 5.9 assists, and 6.1 rebounds.^[8] On February 1, 2009, Westbrook scored a career-high 34 points in an overtime loss to the Sacramento Kings.^[9] He made 7 of 18 field goals and 20 of 22 free throws.^[10] His 20 free throws were the most by a Kings opponent since the franchise relocated to Sacramento, California.^[11] He was also a candidate for the 2009 Slam Dunk Contest but lost in fan voting to Rudy Fernandez of the Portland Trail Blazers. On March 2, 2009 Westbrook recorded a triple double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. He was the first rookie to do so since Chris Paul in the 2005-06 season, and the third rookie player in Sonics/Thunder franchise history: Art Harris 1968-69 and Gary Payton in 1990-91.^[12] He finished fourth in the 2008/09 NBA Rookie of the Year voting^[13] behind Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls), O. J. Mayo (Memphis Grizzlies) and Brook Lopez (New Jersey Nets). Westbrook was named to the NBA's all-rookie first team, along with fellow UCLA classmate Kevin Love, who was named to the second team. On November 12, 2010, his 22nd birthday, Westbrook achieved a career-high 36 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists against the Portland Trail Blazers. 14 days afterward, November 26, Westbrook upped his career-high in points to 43, to go with 8 rebounds and 8 assists, against the Indiana Pacers. Less than a month later, on December 1, 2010, he scored 38 points with 9 assists and achieved a new career-high 15 rebounds in a triple-overtime win over the New Jersey Nets, a game played without Thunder co-star Kevin Durant due to injury trouble.

In his second year the Thunder made a huge turnaround from their first season, qualifying for the playoffs with a 50-32 record. During the season Westbrook averaged 16.1 points, 8.0 assists, and 4.9 rebounds. Westbrook became a significantly better passer; his improvement in the passing department was instrumental in the Thunder's turnaround. The Thunder were eliminated by the eventual world champion Los Angeles Lakers. In the series Westbrook stepped up his play, averaging 20.5 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Westbrook and the Thunder looked to improve on a impressive, successful second season. On November 26th, 2010 Westbrook scored a career high 43 points against the Indiana Pacers.^[14] Westbrook was chosen as a Western Conference reserve for the 2011 NBA All-Star Game.^[15] Westbrook finished the season improving in just about every statistical category, averaging 21.9 points, 8.3 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.9 steals. Westbrook was named to the All-NBA Second Team for his strong year. The Thunder finished the season at 55-27, eventually losing to the eventual world champion Dallas Mavericks. Throughout the playoffs, Westbrook averaged 23.8 points, 6.4 assists and 5.4 rebounds.

International Career

Senior National Team

In 2010 he took part in the FIBA World Championships held in Istanbul, Turkey. He played a pivotal role off the bench with his hustle and energy. USA won gold for the first time since 1994.

Personal

In a July 2008 article, the Daily Oklahoman reported that when he was asked about his relationship with Brian Westbrook, Russell Westbrook responded that they were not related.^[16]

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Triple-doubles

Awards and recognition

• 2010-11 All-NBA Second Team
• 2011 NBA All-Star
• 2009 NBA All-Rookie First Team
• 2008 Collegeinsider.com All-Defensive Team
• 2008 Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year and Third-Team All-Conference
• Third-team Long Beach Press-Telegram Best in the West selection
• Third-team All-State, first-team All-CIF Division I and two-time Most Valuable Player of the Bay League honors
• Scout.com rated Westbrook as the No. 2 shooting guard in the West and one of the top 25 shooting guards in the nation

See also

• 2006-07 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team
• 2007-08 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team

References

External links

• NBA.com : Russell Westbrook Info Page