In a moment that had Gen Z feel its mortality, Russell Westbrook announced his retirement from the NBA on Wednesday. The 37-year-old is the first of many era-defining stars from the 2010s who officially put away his basketball sneakers for good.
Even if you're his biggest critic, you gotta admit Westbrook is a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer. His case is a ferocious slam dunk — akin to all of his loud and animated jams over the years. He played 18 seasons in the NBA. Half of those included an All-Star and All-NBA bid. He also brought home the 2016-17 MVP trophy.
If this were a blind resume test, Westbrook would beat out most who suited up in the league's history. He's a two-time scoring champion and three-time assist champion. He completely normalized
the once-gaudy triple-double feat. It took 55 years for someone to join Oscar Robertson as a guy who's averaged those numbers for a whole year. He then did it four times in a five-year span.
Westbrook's historic career doesn't just stop at individual accolades, either. Alongside Kevin Durant, he co-starred on the Oklahoma City Thunder. That star tandem headlined their first title contender. They had one NBA Finals trip and four Western Conference Finals appearances. In their time together, they were always in the title conversation.
Considering the global name Westbrook is, the entire sports world talked about his retirement. Social media timelines were flooded with praise and love from fans, players and teams across the league. One of those was LeBron James. He took to Instagram to shout out his former teammate's decision to call it quits.
James wrote in Westbrook's retirement post: "HELLUVA CAREER BRODIE!! HOF next!!"
Of course, James and Westbrook were together on the Los Angeles Lakers from 2021-23. The one-and-a-half seasons started off with so much promise. After all, he was an NBA superstar — at least in name at the time — playing alongside arguably the greatest ever. Surely, on paper, their tandem would be dynamic.
It didn't play out exactly that way. For whatever reasons, Westbrook's time on the Lakers was pretty forgettable. Reported tension with James bubbled to the surface. He was eventually moved on from midway through his second season and landed with the LA Clippers.
Still, it looks like James can appreciate what Westbrook has meant to the game. The former might be one of the more polarizing basketball figures in recent memory, but his highs and lows were entertaining to follow for nearly two decades. He's one of the most successful NBA players of his era. That can't ever be taken away from him.
LeBron James congratulates Russell Westbrook on his NBA retirement: pic.twitter.com/p50oUAbiOf
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) August 12, 2026
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: LeBron James gives Russell Westbrook flowers for retirement: 'HOF next!!'
