Oklahoma City Thunder (2008–2019)
Westbrook was selected fourth overall in the 2008 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, which then relocated to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder six days later. He signed with the team on July 5, 2008. Westbrook was again unable to wear his old number 4 jersey, as Nick Collison was already wearing it, so instead he wore 0 again. He would not wear the number 4 jersey until the 2023–24 season. On March 2, 2009, Westbrook recorded his first career triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. He was the first rookie since Chris Paul and the third rookie in Sonics/Thunder franchise history (Art Harris and Gary Payton) to record a triple-double.
Westbrook averaged 15.3 points, 5.3 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game in his rookie season. He finished fourth in the 2008–09 NBA Rookie of the Year voting and was named to the NBA's NBA All-Rookie First Team.
In his second season, and his first season as a full-time starter, Westbrook averaged 16.1 points, 8.0 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game. The Thunder made a huge turnaround by more than doubling their wins from the previous season and qualified for the playoffs with a 50–32 record. The Thunder were eliminated by the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in the first round. In the series, Westbrook stepped up his play from the regular season, averaging 20.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 3.2 steals.
On November 26, 2010, Westbrook scored a then-career-high 43 points against the Indiana Pacers. Westbrook was selected by NBA head coaches to be a Western Conference reserve for the 2011 NBA All-Star Game. This was his first all-star appearance. Westbrook finished the season with averages of 21.9 points, 8.2 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.9 steals. He was named to the All-NBA Second Team for the first time. The Thunder finished the season at 55–27 and lost to the eventual world champion Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals. Westbrook averaged 23.8 points, 6.4 assists, and 5.4 rebounds in the playoffs.
Due to the lockout, the 2011–12 season would start on Christmas Day. On January 9, 2012, Westbrook would sign a 5-year, $80 million extension to keep him in Oklahoma City through the 2016–17 season. On February 9, was again selected by the coaches to participate in the 2012 NBA All-Star Game. On March 23, 2012, he scored a career-high 45 points in a 149–140 double overtime win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. He averaged 23.6 points, 5.5 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.7 steals for the lockout-shortened season and was voted to the All-NBA Second Team for the second year in a row.
Westbrook helped lead the Thunder to the NBA Finals for the first time since the franchise relocated, but they would lose in five games to the Miami Heat. On June 12, in Game 1 of the Finals, Westbrook recorded 27 points and 11 assists in a 105–94 victory. In a Game 4 loss, Westbrook scored a playoff career-high 43 points.
Westbrook was once again selected for the NBA All-Star Game. He finished the 2012–13 season averaging 23.2 points, 7.4 assists, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game. Westbrook helped lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to the playoffs and the first seed in the Western Conference. They would go on to face the 8th seed Houston Rockets in the first round. On April 25, 2013, in the second game of the series, Westbrook injured his right knee when Rockets guard Patrick Beverley collided with him in an attempt to steal the ball. Although Westbrook was clearly bothered by the injury, he would continue playing and finished the game with 29 points. It was revealed the next day that he had suffered a slight tear in his right meniscus. He had surgery on April 27, 2013, and was declared out for the rest of the playoffs. Without Westbrook, the Thunder defeated the Rockets in six games, but fell to the Memphis Grizzlies in five games in the next round. Westbrook was named to the All-NBA Second Team for the third consecutive year.
Prior to the start of the 2013–14 season, Westbrook had a second surgery on his right knee, which set back his return to basketball. Despite reports that he would miss the first two weeks of the regular season, Westbrook only missed the first two games before returning to action. On December 26, however, it was announced that Westbrook would undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and would be out until after the All-Star break. The Thunder were able to remain competitive despite his absence due mainly to Kevin Durant's stellar play. Westbrook returned to the lineup on February 20, 2014. He played the rest of the season on limited minutes and sat out the second night of back-to-backs.
Westbrook and the Thunder finished with a 59–23 record, earning the second seed in the Western Conference. They advanced to the Western Conference Finals, where they faced the San Antonio Spurs. On May 27, 2014, in a Game 4 victory, Westbrook recorded 40 points, 5 rebounds, 10 assists and 5 steals. The Thunder lost the series to the eventual NBA champion Spurs in six games. Westbrook averaged 26.7 points, 8.1 assists, and 7.3 rebounds in the postseason.
After scoring 38 points in a 106–89 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2014–15 season opener, Westbrook suffered a small fracture of the second metacarpal in his right hand the following game against the Los Angeles Clippers. He missed 14 games with the injury. With Westbrook and Durant both inactive due to injuries, the Thunder amassed a 4–12 record prior to Westbrook's return on November 28. In Westbrook's first game back, he led the Thunder to a win over the New York Knicks with 32 points. Durant returned the following game to face the New Orleans Pelicans, and the pair helped the Thunder go on a seven-game winning streak to return to playoff contention.
After tying a career-high 45 points on February 4, 2015, in a 102–91 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, Westbrook broke that mark to score a new career high of 48 points two days later, this time in a 116–113 loss to the Pelicans. After being injured the previous year, Westbrook returned to the All-Star Game in 2015. He tallied 41 points and was named the All-Star MVP. On February 27, in a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, Westbrook recorded 40 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists to become the first player to have three straight triple-doubles since LeBron James did so in 2009.
On March 4, Westbrook set career highs with 49 points and 16 rebounds. He added 10 assists for his fourth consecutive triple-double, helping the Thunder defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 123–118 in overtime. His streak came to an end the following night against the Chicago Bulls as he recorded 43 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists in a 105–108 loss. On April 12, he scored a career-high 54 points on 21-of-43 shooting in a losing effort to the Indiana Pacers. He went on to help the Thunder win the team's final two games of the 2014–15 season; nevertheless, the team missed the playoffs, finishing ninth in the West with a 45–37 record.
On October 30, 2015, to begin the 2015–16 season, Westbrook and Durant each scored 40 points against the Orlando Magic. On January 4, Westbrook was named Western Conference co-Player of the Month for December alongside Durant.
Westbrook was voted to start in his first All-Star Game in 2016, and he earned his second All-Star Game MVP award in a 196–173 win by the West. He recorded 31 points, eight rebounds, five assists and five steals in 22 minutes, and became the first player in All-Star history to win consecutive MVPs outright. On March 22, he recorded his 15th triple-double of the season and 34th of his career with 21 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds in a 111–107 win over the Houston Rockets, amassing the most triple-doubles by a player in a season since 1988–89, when Magic Johnson had 17 and Michael Jordan had 15.
In the playoffs, Westbrook helped guide the Thunder past the Dallas Mavericks in the first round and the San Antonio Spurs in the second round. In the Western Conference Finals, they faced the defending champion Golden State Warriors, taking home court advantage after stealing Game 1 of the series on the road. With the series tied at 1–1 after Game 2, the Thunder returned home and took a 3–1 advantage with two home wins. In Game 4, Westbrook recorded his fifth career playoff triple-double with 36 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in a 118–94 win. Despite leading the series 3–1, the Thunder were defeated four games to three by the Warriors to bow out of the playoffs.
Following the off-season departure of Durant, trade speculation began swirling around Westbrook, whose contract was set to expire in 2017. The Thunder were determined to keep Westbrook and held off all trade talks in order to work out an extension. On August 4, 2016, Westbrook signed a three-year, $85.7 million contract extension with the Thunder. He became the focal point of the team. On December 9, Westbrook recorded his seventh straight triple-double with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 102–99 loss to the Houston Rockets. This streak was the longest triple-double streak since Michael Jordan had seven straight triple-doubles in 1989.
On January 23, Westbrook hit a pull-up jumper with 1.4 seconds left to lift the Thunder to a 97–95 win over the Utah Jazz. He finished with 38 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his 22nd triple-double of the season. Two days later, he had 27 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in a 114–105 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, thus passing Larry Bird with his 60th career triple-double.
On March 7, Westbrook's career-high 58 points was not enough to lift the Thunder over the Portland Trail Blazers, losing 126–121. Westbrook went on to tie Oscar Robertson's single-season record of 41 triple-doubles on April 4 against the Milwaukee Bucks. His historic 42nd triple-double, breaking Robertson's record of most triple-doubles in a season, came in a 106–105 road victory against the Denver Nuggets on April 9 in which the team overcame a 14-point deficit. Westbrook scored 18 of his 50 points, including a 36-foot game-winning buzzer-beater, in the game's last five minutes. Westbrook became just the second player in NBA history to average a triple-double for a season, after Oscar Robertson. The Thunder finished the regular season with a 47–35 record and entered the playoffs as the sixth seed.
On April 19, in Game 2 of the Thunder's first-round playoff series against the Rockets, Westbrook had 51 points. Despite his efforts, the Thunder lost 115–111 to go down 2–0 in the series. In Game 4 four days later, Westbrook had 35 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists, but could not lead the Thunder to a win, as they went down 3–1 in the series with a 113–109 loss. With a loss to the Rockets in Game 5, the Thunder bowed out of the playoffs with a 4–1 series defeat. Westbrook had 47 points in Game 5.
On June 26, 2017, Westbrook was named the recipient of the NBA Most Valuable Player Award. He was the first winner from a team with fewer than 50 wins since Moses Malone in 1982.
On September 29, 2017, Westbrook signed a five-year, $205 million contract extension with the Thunder. The deal started with the 2018–19 season and delivered Westbrook the largest guaranteed contract in NBA history at the time—six seasons and $233 million through 2022–23. The contract included a player option for the 2022–23 season. Continuing on from his historic 2016–17 season, Westbrook had a triple-double in the Thunder's season opener against the New York Knicks on October 19. Playing alongside new All-Star teammates Paul George and Carmelo Anthony, Westbrook had 21 points, 10 rebounds and 16 assists in a 105–84 win. After starting the season with an 8–12 record, the Thunder improved to 20–15 with a 124–107 win over the Toronto Raptors on December 27. Westbrook had 30 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds against the Raptors as the Thunder won their sixth straight game.
On March 13, 2018, Westbrook recorded 32 points, 12 assists and 12 rebounds in a 119–107 win over the Atlanta Hawks, becoming the fourth player in NBA history to record 100 triple-doubles, joining Oscar Robertson (181 triple-doubles), Magic Johnson (138) and Jason Kidd (107). On April 9, Westbrook recorded his 25th triple-double of the season with 23 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists in a 115–93 win over the Miami Heat, helping the Thunder clinch a playoff spot. Westbrook finished the season as the league leader in assists per game, averaging 10.3 per game, and he was named to the All-NBA Second Team. In Game 5 of the Thunder's first-round playoff series against the Utah Jazz, Westbrook scored 33 of his 45 points in the second half as Oklahoma City rallied from 25 points down to fight off elimination and beat the Jazz 107–99. He also had 15 rebounds and seven assists. In Game 6, Westbrook scored 46 points in a 96–91 loss, as the Thunder bowed out of the playoffs with a 4–2 defeat.
Westbrook missed the preseason and the first two regular season games of the 2018–2019 season after undergoing a procedure in September 2018 to deal with inflammation in his right knee. In his season debut for the Thunder on October 21, Westbrook had 32 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in 35 minutes in a 131–120 loss to the Sacramento Kings. On November 19, he returned to the line-up after missing five games with a left ankle sprain and had 29 points and 13 assists in a 117–113 loss to the Kings. On January 10, 2019, he recorded a career-high 24 assists to go with 24 points and 13 rebounds in a 154–147 double-overtime loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
On January 31, Westbrook received his eighth career All-Star selection by being named a Western Conference reserve. On February 11, Westbrook broke Wilt Chamberlain's record for consecutive triple-doubles after tallying 21 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists in a 120–111 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. On February 14, he recorded 44 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists in a 131–122 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. In addition to increasing his triple-double streak, Westbrook surpassed Gary Payton (18,207 points) as the career scoring leader in franchise history. His streak of 11 consecutive games with a triple-double ended in the first game after the All-Star break, as he recorded 43 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists in a 148–147 double-overtime win over the Utah Jazz.
On March 17, Westbrook was suspended for one game without pay for receiving his 16th technical foul of the season. On April 2, Westbrook had 20 points, 20 rebounds and 21 assists in a 119–103 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. He became the second player in NBA history to record 20 points, 20 rebounds and 20 assists in a single game, after Wilt Chamberlain. Westbrook led the league in assists per game for the third consecutive season. The Thunder went on to lose in five games to the Trail Blazers in the first round of the playoffs. It was the third straight season in which the team was eliminated in the first round.
