A random day in the NBA turned memorable for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Aug. 12 will forever be known as the day that Russell Westbrook announced his retirement. After 18 legendary seasons, the future Hall-of-Famer called it a career as one of the era-defining NBA superstars of the 2010s.
It's one of those moments where every Westbrook stan and NBA fan remembers where they were. As polarizing as his playing style was, he's one of the biggest celebrities in recent basketball history. He helped put the Thunder on the map as a perennial title contender.
At his 2026-27 preseason press conference, Sam Presti recounted his own experience. During the dog days of the summer, he traveled overseas to learn more about his family roots. On that trip, that's
when he found out one of OKC's early franchise players hung up his sneakers for good.
"I was in Italy with my family. Because I took my family to Italy this summer for a vacation, and that's to explore kind of some ancestry stuff because that's where my father's side of the family is from. It was the night before we were coming home," Presti said. "We were just in a van coming back from something my wife had scheduled for us. And I don't have social media, so (Thunder PR) is the king of the screenshot. So I get all my news — he sends me screenshots of things. So I got a screenshot with it. I think I got real quiet, to be honest with you. Because it hit me pretty hard. I just wasn't expecting that."
Afterward, Presti reminisced with Westbrook about his time on the Thunder. He spent his first 11 seasons there. In that time, he became a one-time MVP winner and a perennial All-NBA member. He was in the front row of the triple-double Renaissance of the late 2010s. As the franchise leader for most statistics, he'll forever be synonymous with OKC.
All that started with one risky draft pick, though. Presti recalled OKC's decision to take Westbrook with the No. 4 pick of the 2008 NBA draft. At the time, he was an extremely-raw, defense-first UCLA guard. The selection was panned as the biggest reach of the draft cycle. It goes without saying that the critics were flat-out wrong. In every way imaginable.
"About an hour later, he called me. We had a great conversation," Presti said. "I guess it makes you feel old because I remember sitting with him. His first workout with us, he got injured halfway through. George Hill was there. He was in that workout, I'm pretty sure. So he went back. He couldn't finish the workout. We didn't tell the agent that we really were thinking about him at the fourth pick. So it was a big deal. Kept trying to get him to come back to work out. They wouldn't bring him back because they're like, 'We've got to do the back.' They thought he was going to go much further back."
Presti noted that the urgency to get a workout in was less about a predraft evaluation and more about getting to personally know Westbrook. He loved his game and athletic makeup, but did he have the mental fortitude and intangibles usually associated with high-end draft picks that turn out to be franchise-changers?
A meeting in an Orlanda hotel room was enough for Presti. Westbrook's answers backed up the OKC GM's gut feeling that he was more than capable of shouldering an entire NBA franchise. Over the next 11 seasons, he co-starred on the Thunder as part of their first title contender.
"And then I'm thinking about the guy who is retiring. This is such a full-circle moment for such an influential player and person," Presti said. "I'm just happy for him. He's going to do so well in everything he does from here because all of his great qualities translate into life after basketball. I'm excited to see where he ends up and what he does."
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Sam Presti reveals how he learned Russell Westbrook retired from NBA
