By The Numbers: Russell Westbrook surpasses Oscar Robertson's NBA record with 182nd career triple-double

and others

• 4 min read

Russell Westbrook is now officially the Triple-Double King in NBA history.

By recording a 28-point, 21- assist, 13-rebound triple-double in the narrow 125-124 loss against the Hawks in Atlanta, he surpasses Oscar Robertson's NBA record of 181 career triple-doubles.

He breaks the 47-year record, one many considered among the untouchables while playing exactly 100 regular-season games fewer than Robertson.

The former league MVP already broke Robertson's record for most triple-doubles in a single season when he recorded 42 in the 2016-17 season.

With respect to averaging a triple-double for a season, Westbrook, in 2016-17, became only the second player ever to do after 'The Big O' in 1961-62. Since then, he has done it three more times.

Win-loss record

The talk of stat-padding or hunting for those triple-doubles has chased Westbrook ever since his MVP season, the 2016-17 campaign when he broke Oscar Robertson's record (41) for the most triple-double in a season by registering 42.

However, that argument holds no credit when you consider the team's win-loss record when he records a triple-double.

Through the 182 triple-doubles, the team has a record of 136-46 which results in a win percentage of 74.7 percent. That's higher than Oscar Robertson's win percentage of 72.4 percent.

Splits vs. teams

Westbrook is the franchise leader in triple-doubles for the Oklahoma City Thunder (138) and the Washington Wizards (36).

On Jan. 20, 2020, as a member of the Houston Rockets, Westbrook recorded a triple-double against his former team - the Oklahoma City Thunder - and joined LeBron James as the only players ever to register a triple-double against every single NBA franchise.

However, over a year later, the Brodie went one better. On Apr. 19 with a triple-double against the Thunder, Westbrook became the only player in NBA history to have recorded multiple triple-doubles against every single NBA franchise.

Here's a look at how many triple-doubles he's recorded against every NBA team:

	No. of Triple-doubles (# teams)	Teams
1.	10 (1)	Pacers
2.	9 (2)	Pelicans, Magic
3.	8 (7)	Rockets, Bucks, 76ers, Trail Blazers, Kings, Raptors, Jazz
4.	7 (2)	Nuggets, Timberwolves
5.	6 (6)	Mavericks, Pistons, Lakers, Suns, Spurs, Wizards
6.	5 (5)	Nets, Bulls, Warriors, Grizzlies, Hawks
7.	4 (4)	Cavaliers, Clippers, Heat, Knicks
8.	3 (1)	Oklahoma City Thunder
9	2 (2)	Celtics, Hornets

His 10 triple-doubles against the Pacers, makes him the fourth player in NBA history after Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson and Wilt Chamberlain to record at least 10 triple-doubles against a single NBA team.

Evolution into a triple-double machine

Currently, in his 13th NBA season, Westbrook's love with the triple-doubles began in the second half of his career. In his first six seasons, he only had eight triple-doubles whereas, in his seventh season (2014-15) alone, he recorded 11.

However, things really picked up in 2016-17, when he carried the Oklahoma City Thunder on his shoulders following the departure of Kevin Durant to the Warriors in the offseason as a free agent.

In fact, over the recent years, he's more probable to record a triple-double than make a field goal.

Since 2016, in four of five seasons, Westbrook had registered 137 triple-doubles in 296 regular-season games. That leads to a 46.3 percent chance of registering a triple-double, slightly better than his field goal percentage (43.7%) over those seasons.