Ranking the 3 best NBA seasons of Russell Westbrook's career in terms of points per game (PPG)
Russell Westbrook showed everyone what he's capable of in the NBA during the LA Lakers' latest victory over the San Antonio Spurs. The former NBA MVP had a tremendous clutch night alongside Anthony Davis, helping the Lakers to their second win of the 2021-22 NBA season.
Westbrook finished the game with 33 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists to lead the LA Lakers to a 125-121 victory on the road. He made seven of his 10 shots from the field between the fourth quarter and overtime for a total of 15 points. He also had five rebounds, two assists and two steals during that stretch of the game.
Russell Westbrook's top 3 NBA seasons in terms of points per game
Russell Westbrook's outing reinforces the fact that he is a great NBA player, despite being an easy target for criticism due to his poor decisions with the ball and shot selection.
Westbrook is one of only six players to lead the NBA in both points and assists during his career. He has undoubtedly done impressive work in the regular season, although his weaknesses have crept up too many times in recent years.
Let's now take a look at Russell Westbrook's top 3 seasons in terms of points per game.
#3 2019-20 NBA season
The consensus in the NBA community is that Russell Westbrook's stint with the Houston Rockets did not work out due to the point guard's style of play. However, there's no denying the fact that he had one of the best seasons of his career during his time with the franchise.
Russell Westbrook averaged 27.2 points per game across 57 appearances in the 2019-20 NBA season. That's the third-best number of his 13-year NBA career.
Additionally, Westbrook recorded the highest field-goal percentage of his career, at 47.2%. He also averaged 7.9 rebounds and seven assists per game and recorded eight triple-doubles.
#2 2014-15 NBA season
Russell Westbrook was the offensive leader for the Oklahoma City Thunder during the 2014-15 NBA campaign. He essentially played without Kevin Durant that season. Westbrook led the NBA in points per game that year, which was the first time he won a scoring title.
He registered a points-per-game average of 28.1 during the 2014-15 NBA regular season, which was a career-best at the time (now ranks second). He struggled from the three-point line (29.9%) as usual but made 42.6% of his field goals and 83.5% from the free-throw line.
The nine-time All-Star had one 50-point game and nine games with at least 40 points. In the 67 games he played that season, the OKC Thunder went 40-27.
Russell Westbrook also averaged 7.3 rebounds and 8.6 assists during the 2014-15 NBA regular season and won the 2015 All-Star Game MVP.
#1 2016-17 NBA season
The 2016-17 NBA season was Russell Westbrook's greatest campaign of his entire career as he averaged a triple-double for the first time in his career. He's done it three more times since.
Westbrook averaged 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists per game while becoming the second player to average a triple-double in an entire NBA campaign (alongside Oscar Robertson).
Russell Westbrook's 31.6 points per game that year helped the OKC Thunder reach the NBA Playoffs. It also led the NBA PPG standings.
In addition to winning his second scoring title, Westbrook also won the only NBA MVP award of his career so far.
Westbrook went on to break the all-time record for most triple-doubles in a single season, with 42. He has since surpassed Oscar Robertson for most triple-doubles in NBA history.