Watching Russell Westbrook play great ball in his 18th season is a bit mind blowing. He's always been that guy, but he's on a real tear with the Sacramento Kings. And the legend has completed another step towards the Hall of Fame by taking over the 17th spot on the all-time points leader list.
Once again, the Kings got absolutely blown out, this time by the Houston Rockets. Honestly, that's not too surprising. The Rockets have grown by leaps and bounds in the last couple of seasons, and their big trade for Kevin Durant has pushed them over the top. The Rockets may be contenders.
As such, the five and 17 Kings losing to the 14 and five Rockets wasn't exactly a shock to the system. Even the fact that they lost by nearly 30 point after leading by one point at the half wasn't a surprise. Disappointing, sure. Yet, still neither a shock nor a surprise, considering how this season has gone.
That's why Kings' fans have to take comfort in the little things, like how well Westbrook is playing for them. As a last minute signing in the offseason, no one expected much from the veteran. Russell being Russell, he shut everyone up by becoming a starter and key part of the Kings.
Russell Westbrook adds to his legend
During that abysmal loss to the Rockets, Westbrook made a bit of history by scoring the points needed to push him from 18th to 17th on the all-time points leader list. It's actually kind of a big deal since the former number 17 on the list is Tim Duncan, another absolute legend of a player.
While the Rockets game wasn't the best of his career, or even of his tenure with the Kings, Westbrook still did reasonably well. He clocked out with 12 points, four rebounds, nine assists, and one steal. Brodie was just one assist from adding another double-double to his long stat tally.
LeBron James is quite famously at the top of that list with 42,260 points and counting. He's in season 23, so his final number relies on when he decides to retire. It's unlikely that Westbrook is going to catch James, but the other names ahead of him are well within reach.
Before Westbrook retires, he could catch up to and pass Dominique Wilkins, Oscar Robertson, and Hakeem Olajuwon, which would move him up to 14th. Russell is less than a thousand points behind Moses Malone, who is in 12th. If Westbrook keeps playing at this pace, he could get there.