Russell Westbrook retiring after 18 NBA seasons
Russell Westbrook is calling it a career.
The former NBA MVP announced his retirement Wednesday with a farewell video on social media narrated by Michael B. Jordan, bringing an end to his 18-year NBA career.
“Sometimes you don’t even know when you’ve already watched the end,” Westbrook wrote in the caption. “You had to be there. And now it’s over.”
The three-plus minute video served as Westbrook’s goodbye to basketball, with ESPN’s Shams Charania later reporting that the nine-time All-Star was retiring.
Earlier this week, rumors emerged that Westbrook could be leaving the NBA for Hapoel Tel Aviv in Israel, although insider Marc Stein reported that the possibility was “laughably false.”
Westbrook’s retirement closes the book on one of the NBA’s most distinctive careers.
The 37-year-old spent the 2025-26 season with the Kings, averaging 15.2 points per game across 64 contests.
The longtime Thunder star won the 2016-17 NBA MVP award and two scoring titles, made nine All-Star teams and became the league’s all-time leader in triple-doubles during his surefire Hall of Fame career.
Westbrook spent 11 seasons in Oklahoma City after being drafted No. 4 overall out of UCLA in the 2008 NBA Draft.
He, Kevin Durant and James Harden led the Thunder to the 2012 NBA Finals as one of the youngest teams to ever make it to the championship round before falling to LeBron James and the Heat.
Westbrook would bounce around the league after leaving OKC following the 2018-19 season, spending time with the Rockets, Wizards, Lakers, Clippers, Nuggets and Kings.
