Looking at the 5 greatest milestones in Russell Westbrook's career as he joins the LA Lakers

Russell Westbrook's move to the LA Lakers is already official, and there is a lot of noise regarding this trade and how it makes the LA Lakers a 'superteam'. Whether you think that's the case or not, adding a former NBA MVP is not something any franchise, regardless of their current roster, would not try to do.

Westbrook has been criticized for his style of play for many years now, as his individual numbers have not generated collective success for his teams so far. Winning involves so much more than the ability of just one player, so Westbrook and other ring-less superstars are often unfairly criticized.

Nevertheless, Westbrook has become the first MVP in NBA history to be traded in three consecutive off-seasons (from OKC to Houston in 2019, Houston to Washington in 2020 and now from DC to Los Angeles).

Though it might seem that he was the common denominator behind all those teams not working well, Russell Westbrook might've found the right place and especially the right leader in LA in LeBron James.

Explore the NBA Draft 2024 with our free NBA Mock Draft Simulator & be the GM of your favorite NBA team.

Although some might think Westbrook is not the superstar he was a few years ago, the evidence shows that he remains a top NBA player, despite some of his apparent shortcomings.

On that note, here's a look at five achievements that will put Russell Westbrook's career in perspective. Without further ado, let's get started:

#5 Russell Westbrook is one of two NBA players with a 20-20-20 game

Russell Westbrook with the OKC Thunder in 2019.

On April 2nd, 2019, Russell Westbrook had one of the most unbelievable stat lines in NBA history, even coming from a player who has made an illustrious career out of filling the stat sheets.

In a regular-season game against the LA Lakers, Westbrook guided the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 119-103 win over LA at the Thunder's Chesapeake Energy Arena.

While doing so, Russell Westbrook recorded only the second 20-20-20 triple-double in NBA history, as he registered 20 points, 20 rebounds and 21 assists in 36 minutes. Wilt Chamberlain was the first to do so, back in 1968, with 22 points, 25 rebounds and 21 assists for the Philadelphia 76ers against the Detroit Pistons.

#4 Westbrook is one of six players in NBA history to win the scoring and assist titles

Russell Westbrook has won two scoring titles in his career, the first in the 2014-15 campaign and the other during his NBA MVP-winning year in 2016-17.

He has also led the NBA in assists per game on three occasions, making him one of six players in history to lead the league in scoring and assists. The other five players are Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Nate Archibald (only one to do so in the same season), James Harden and LeBron James.

However, Westbrook is the only player to have multiple scoring and assists titles in NBA history. He has won three of the last four assist titles in the NBA and won the scoring title the year before his streak started.

#3 Russell Westbrook has the most triple-doubles in a single season in NBA history

Russell Westbrook with the Washington Wizards

Russell Westbrook became the second player in NBA history to average a triple-double for an entire season when he did so in the 2016-17 campaign. The then Oklahoma City Thunder guard, in the process, became the first player since Oscar Robertson in 1961-62 to do so.

On his way to averaging a league-leading 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists, Westbrook had 42 triple-doubles in the campaign, breaking Robertson's record of 41 in the 1961-62 season. Eventually, the feat, along with all of his displays in the 2016-17 season, helped Westbrook win the NBA MVP award that campaign.

#2 Westbrook has the most triple-doubles in NBA history

Oscar Robertson (left) and Russell Westbrook.

In the 2020-21 NBA season, Russell Westbrook had another big season, though he was often criticized for his style of play and for the Washington Wizards' inability to perform well as a team despite Westbrook leading the show.

Nevertheless, Westbrook averaged a triple-double, and led the NBA in assists per game. He also became the all-time leader in triple-doubles in competition history, surpassing Oscar Robertson's 181 triple-doubles, thanks to an NBA-high 38 triple-doubles during the campaign.

Russell Westbrook has 184 triple-doubles in his career, and has led the NBA in that department in six of the last seven seasons.

#1 Westbrook is the only player in NBA history with multiple seasons averaging a triple-double

Russell Westbrook with the Houston Rockets in 2020

Not only did Russell Westbrook join Oscar Robertson as the only players in NBA history to average a triple-double for an entire NBA campaign, but Westbrook now also has multiple such campaigns.

After he did it for the first time in his career during the 2016-17 NBA season, Westbrook repeated the feat in his next two campaigns with the OKC Thunder.

After a 'down' year with the Houston Rockets, where he put up 27 points, eight rebounds and seven assists per game, Westbrook returned to his triple-double best with the Washington Wizards in the 2020-21 NBA season.

He has had four seasons averaging a triple-double for the entire season, and all have come in his last five NBA campaigns. In his career, Russell Westbrook has averages of 23.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 8.5 rebounds per game.

While his achievements are not as respected as they should, mainly because of some ill-advised decisions in offense and his team's postseason losses, Russell Westbrook could be the Wilt Chamberlain of triple-doubles.