Russell Westbrook recently retired from the NBA and will be honored by his hometown of Los Angeles.
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The city of Los Angeles will honor Russell Westbrook on Friday with a Council certificate to recognize his retirement from the NBA and his community work. The nine-time All-Star and 2016-17 NBA MVP announced his retirement in August. Councilwoman Heather Hutt (District 10) will present the Los Angeles native and former UCLA standout with the certificate. The ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. local time in City Hall.
The future Hall of Famer founded the Russell Westbrook Why Not? Foundation in 2012. The foundation focuses on helping underserved communities in Los Angeles and across Southern California with its charitable efforts in “educational opportunities, workforce development and accessible mental health resources.”
Westbrook played for Oklahoma City, Houston, Washington, the Los Angeles Lakers, LA Clippers, Denver and Sacramento over 18 seasons. He led the NBA in scoring twice and assists three times, and he was a nine-time All-NBA selection. He averaged a triple-double four times over five seasons from 2016-17 to 2020-21 and retired with the most regular-season triple-doubles in league history (209), breaking Oscar Robertson’s mark of 181 on May 10, 2021.
Westbrook has also been lauded by his peers since his retirement, too. Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has won back-to-back MVPs and the 2025 NBA championship, winning NBA Finals MVP honors in the latter instance. He said Westbrook laid the “foundation” for what the Thunder have become.
“He’s as dynamic as they come in terms of an NBA player, personality, and teammate,” Gilgeous-Alexander said this week . “He’s the whole package. He laid the foundation we stand on now. Part of the reason why this city is what it is is because of Russell Westbrook. He deserves all of those flowers,”
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Jason Jones is a staff writer for The Athletic, covering Culture. Previously, he spent 16 years at the Sacramento Bee, covering the Sacramento Kings and Oakland Raiders. He’s a proud Southern California native and a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley. You can follow Jason on X @mr_jasonjones.
