Brookie’s and Kareem — UCLA’s Russell Westbrook tallies a Triple-Double with 51 Points, 13 Rebounds and 10 Assists, the NBA’s first Triple-Double with at least 50 Points since UCLA’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it in 1975
Wow. It is awesome when a Bruin Star does something in the Pro’s that hasn’t been done in 40 years. It’s even better when the guy that did it 40 years ago was also a Bruin Star! On Friday night, Russell Westbrook led his Oklahoma City Thunder to a victory over the Phoenix Suns, by scoring 51, and adding 13 Boards and 10 Dimes. Westbrook is arguably the greatest Triple-Double machine in recent history, and now that Kevin Durant is no longer on the Thunder, Westbrook will probably add to that legacy, joining Magic Johnson and a few others at the top of the pantheon of greatness.
Russell’s feat on Friday hasn’t been accomplished since 1975 — the year of John Wooden’s final NCAA Championship — when the Lakers’ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had a game where he reached 50 while also notching double-digits in Caroms and Assists. Abdul-Jabbar is obviously a charter member of any pantheon of greatness that you can find, being the all-time NBA Scoring Leader, and possessing 6 Championship Rings and 6 MVP Awards to go with that Scoring Title.
It’s pretty cool for Kareem’s fellow Bruin to accomplish something so spectacular that it puts the name Abdul-Jabbar back in the headlines, for something other than writing articles that straighten out backwards-thinkers on Racism and the like.
Now speaking of “spectacular” and “Bruins,” here are 35 more photos of the unparalleled UCLA Spirit Squad.