After the All-Star break in 1989, Bulls coach Doug Collins tried a little experiment. He moved Michael Jordan to the point guard position. The results were astonishing. Between March 25 and April 6, His Airness logged seven consecutive triple-doubles. He would log four more before the end of the season.
Nobody else has recorded that many triple-doubles in a row since. Until tonight. Russell Westbrook, who’s been on an absolute tear for the Thunder in the post-Kevin-Durant era, is averaging a triple-double for the season so far. He’d logged six consecutive triple-doubles leading up to the Thunder’s showdown against the Rockets on Friday night, and he would keep that streak alive as he put up 27 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists.
With his triple-double tonight, Russell Westbrook has officially reached MJ status. pic.twitter.com/Jl1bdVSWi3
— ESPN (@espn) December 10, 2016
Granted, he shot just 8-of-25 from the field, committed eight turnovers, and the Thunder lost in a nail-biter 102-99, but all that’s besides the point. The point is that Westbrook might be the most entertaining and compelling basketball player on the planet.
Russ Westbrook is a triple-double machine. He now has seven straight and 12 on the year. The rest of the NBA combined has 13.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) December 10, 2016
For years, most of the basketball cognoscenti believed it would be impossible for anyone to replicate Oscar Robertson’s historic feat of averaging a triple-double for the entire season, but Westbrook’s nightly antics are starting to make people believe again. Naysayers will point to the fact that an 82-game slog will inevitably take its toll, but if anyone is capable of maintaining this level of play, it would definitely be Westbrook.
