Oklahoma City guard Russell Westbrook continued his historic season on Friday, recording his 19th triple-double to reach territory unseen in the NBA in nearly 50 seasons.
His triple-double total is the seventh highest in single-season NBA history, and the most since Wilt Chamberlain recorded 31 in 1967-68.
With 41 games remaining on Oklahoma City’s schedule, Westbrook could challenge for Oscar Robertson’s record of 41. Robertson is the only player to average a triple-double for an entire campaign, achieving the feat with 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 11.4 assists over 79 games in 1961-62. Robertson also averaged a cumulative triple-double over his first five seasons.
41 – Oscar Robertson, 1961-62
31 – Wilt Chamberlain, 1967-68
26 – Robertson, 1963-64/1960-61
22 – Chamberlain, 1966-67; Robertson, 1964-65
19 – Westbrook, 2016-17
Westbrook finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists in Oklahoma City’s 96-86 loss to Minnesota. He is averaging 30.8 points, 10.7 rebounds and 10.5 assists through 41 games, the deepest any player has averaged a triple-double since Robertson in 66-67.
Westbrook now has 56 career triple-doubles, trailing only Larry Bird (59), Chamberlain (78), Jason Kidd (107), Magic Johnson (138) and Robertson (181).