Russell Westbrook retires after 18 seasons, leaves as the NBA's all-time triple-double king
Westbrook announced his retirement Wednesday via a social media video narrated by Michael B. Jordan, closing an 18-year career that produced 209 triple-doubles, a 2017 MVP, and nine All-Star appearances.
In brief
The triple-double king walks away
Russell Westbrook is done. No press conference, no farewell tour, no teary podium moment. The 37-year-old announced his retirement on August 12, 2026, through social media - a roughly three-and-a-half-minute video that dropped without warning on a Wednesday afternoon and sent the basketball world scrolling to make sure it was real.
Rather than holding a press conference, he released a career video narrated by Michael B. Jordan. The clip doesn't explicitly mention retirement, but recaps Westbrook's career and refers to him stepping away "on (his) own terms." The caption he posted read, simply: "Sometimes you don't even know when you've already watched the end. You had to be there. And now it's over."
That was it. No more.
What he leaves behind
Westbrook leaves the NBA as its all-time leader in career triple-doubles with 209, a 2017 MVP, a nine-time All-Star, a nine-time All-NBA selection, a two-time scoring champion, a three-time assists leader, and a member of the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team. He steps away fifth all-time in the NBA in assists with 10,351 and 14th in scoring with 27,176 points.
The triple-double record alone tells you almost everything. Westbrook became the first player since Oscar Robertson in 1962 to average a triple-double for a season in 2017, the year he was voted MVP. He didn't just break Robertson's record - he lapped it, finishing with 209 career triple-doubles to Robertson's 181.
The fourth overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft out of UCLA, Westbrook spent his first 11 seasons with the Thunder before playing for the Rockets, Wizards, Lakers, Clippers, Nuggets, and Kings. Eight cities, eight chapters, and a career that was never, at any point, quiet.
He had offers - and still walked
What makes this retirement unusual is the timing. The timing was notable because Westbrook still had NBA opportunities. According to ESPN's Shams Charania, Westbrook had received offers from the Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizards during the 2026 offseason. He ultimately chose to step away from basketball rather than continue his career.
Those were minimum-contract offers, backup guard roles. He declined both. After 18 seasons of playing basketball at full throttle - there was no gear left for a bench seat.
His former Oklahoma City teammate and ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins said on NBA Today that the Thunder should retire his jersey. OKC general manager Sam Presti issued a statement calling him "the ultimate competitor." Trae Young posted simply: "What a hell of a career!"
A career built on contradiction
No player in the last two decades generated more genuine debate. Westbrook won the MVP in 2017 - the same season he averaged a triple-double - yet spent much of the decade after that being criticized for ball-stopping, inefficiency, and poor shot selection. Both things were true at once. He was one of the most physically gifted athletes the league had ever seen, a blur on the fast break, relentless on the glass for a guard. He was also capable of 10 turnovers and a fourth-quarter meltdown in the same week.
He played alongside Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City, and with James Harden, and the Thunder made the NBA Finals in 2012. Oklahoma City reached the NBA Finals in 2012, when James Harden was also on the team, before losing to the Miami Heat. That team, with three future MVPs on the floor, never won a title. It remains one of the great what-ifs in NBA history.
His time in Los Angeles with the Lakers - paired with LeBron James and Anthony Davis - was the lowest point of his reputation, a brutal two-year stretch where the fit was wrong from the first possession. He eventually found his way to the Clippers, then Denver, then Sacramento, where he ended his career on a one-year deal.
The Hall of Fame path is clear
There is no real argument against his eventual enshrinement in Springfield. The nine-time All-Star, nine-time All-NBA selection, former MVP and reigning triple-double king announced his retirement from basketball on Wednesday. That résumé, stacked against any standard in NBA history, gets you in. The only question is whether voters treat him as a first-ballot inductee or make him wait a year. Given that the triple-double record is essentially untouchable - the next closest active player isn't within 100 of him - he'll almost certainly go in on the first try.
The retirement video features Westbrook watching his career highlights on a big screen, then looking to "whatever's next - the mentorship, the foundation, the kids who are going to grow up wanting to move just like he did."
His last game as an NBA player was sometime in April, in Sacramento, in a building that wasn't close to full. Nobody knew it then. He didn't announce a farewell. He just stopped.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
