Yeah before SGA came in and won the franchise its first title, he was the face of the franchise and GOAT Thunder player

He was just having fun.

And KD probably won’t get a jersey in any stadium lol

The day he announced his retirement is the day that OKC should have started planning his jersey retirement

Basically actually deserving, compared to Vince Carter who was not deserving based on loyalty alone.

Happy Russell Westbrook Day!!!

Part of me gets the dislike for Russ and part of me still thinks he was a player who busted his ass to make himself and his teammates great. OKC was utterly irrelevant before the Big Three matured, but only one of the three stayed behind to put in the work to keep them relevant. His downsides are obvious and many, but a lot of that came later in his career as he aged and didn’t adapt to a more suitable role. I will always have love for Russ and I’m happy to see him get his flowers right away. Also, fuck KD.

A poignant part of Westbrook’s history with OKC, is how he developed such a genuine affection for the city after not being the biggest fan and going home to CA as often as he could during the early years. He became what everyone thought KD would be, while KD took the trade deal that Westbrook initially wanted before he decided to stay.

Correct. Also hilarious side note regarding Harden’s number 13. It was pretty widely reported that the franchise refused to allow Dion Waiters to wear it, only to then allow the GOAT Nazr Mohammad be the first player to be number 13 after Harden in the 15-16 season.

No, his number hasn’t been allowed since he left. Only His and Mr. Thunder have been essentially banned

I mean, health and conditioning permitting, he could hypothetically return regardless. The Bulls retired MJ’s #23 in 1994.

Jersey retirements don’t mean that a player wearing a retired number is an absolute taboo for all time. Old players return (sometimes), some guys are sons of former players and wear their dad’s old number (eg. Tim Hardway Jr.). Some guys come to a new team with an established number and get permission from the retired player or the retired player’s family to wear the number, etc.

Russ: “Can I get a contract to show I can still contribute?”

GM: points at the rafters “I wish I could but your jersey is already retired.”

Hm? Looks more like Russ is gonna be at every OKC home game to me

I would love so much if they started raising the jersey to the rafters, but Westbrook suddenly ripped off his suit to reveal a Thunder uniform and they announce on the spot that he has been signed for the remainder of the season.

“Russell we need you back…”

“Cool so Shai’s fine coming off the bench?”

“… in the rafters I mean”

I mean he’s retired. He announced it in August.

There was nothing to “reject.”

He’d look good wearing #45

Sad, would have been nice to see him wreaking havoc with OKC one last season

right? i was thinking they could use Russ right now with all their injuries

Westbrook is awful and would be awful for the team, he was never going back

That’s how I took it lol. Like read between the lines.

Those flameouts made people forget it was Westbrook who was the offensive engine of those Thunder teams from 2012-17. Yeah he wasn’t an efficient scorer but he had a crazy impact on his team’s offense when on the court. Thinking Basketball noted he improved his teammates’ TS by +6%, and that the KD only lineups were actually relatively poor in the playoffs.

I actually thought he was better than KD in the 2016 WCF against the Warriors

Bah-god, that’s Russell Westbrooks music!

Give me russ over sting any day

I never saw another player dunk with near the same level of ferocity as Brody, and dude did that shit every time like he hated the rim. Up there with KG for all time NBA motor

I oppose it because I was hoping he could come out of retirement to help this team

What

like why even write this comment my brother ;)

fortunately 0 will forever be a ring in the rafters of Paycom

yeah, he did it all on his own.

The first year the Thunder won 50 games, KD finished 2nd in MVP voting. Russ never got past the 1st round on the Thunder without KD. Russ was an amazing player but KD was the guy who turned the ship around.

Wonder if they’ll unveil the statue when the new stadium opens

They weren’t going to wait 2 years

It’s tough. SGA already has achieved way more, but there was something about Russ that just made you so attached as a fan

You never forget your first

SGA is the best player to ever wear a Thunder uniform, but Russ is culturally goated. And that isn’t anything against Shai, it is just a testament to what Russ has done for the state and his commitment to the franchise, even when he was playing elsewhere.

I think Shai may get there eventually from a philanthropic measure, but the Brodie was the heart of the organization when it really mattered most

Much respect to russ but nah shai has surpassed him.

Russ is like Iverson for OKC not greatest but the most revered.

Only because all of Shai’s accomplishments are recent, in 4-5 years it will change

Sga is definitely the goat thunder

SGA may be the GOAT, but Russ is the heart of the franchise.

He is

Agree to that! When someone asks who I see as a player from OKC, the first person I think of is Russ.

SGA is the best but Russ is still my favourite player ever

Sga haters are crazy lol

It will change after another couple seasons.

Russ only has longevity over Shai at this point

Nonsense

Thats just the nostalgia talking

Same… Never a boring moment

Why do you say that he’s still playing

Yeah, he can fuck all the way off. We don’t want him here.

Because KD is still playing?

When has any team retired an active player’s jersey?

He’ll get one, it’ll just take time. It took some time for Vince Carter to get his jersey in the rafters, but they got there eventually. KD’s exit was worse than Vince’s though, so it wouldn’t surprise me if it took 15 years. But time does heal wounds as new fans come in that started in the Shai era

They’ll eventually do it. I think the Warriors will be the first to retire his jersey.

He’ll probably get one when he retires.

Hope his jersey doesnt get retired.

You bozos don’t even know or appreciate everything ³⁵⁄₇ has done for hoops. Them #’s should be retired for the league tbh

• KD probably

I’m so damn tired of even the thought of retiring that jersey. Most of the people on Reddit just can’t comprehend how hated kd is in OKC. I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it: He is nearly as hated as Timmothy McVay. Should it be hatred like that, no. But this is still how much we hate him. Not because he left, but how he left. If he would have gone to the Wizards, we absolutely would not hate him as much. But he chose the only team that would make him a bitch in our eyes. It was reported that he went to dinner with Steph & Drey the night before the comeback started in that series. Then magically has his worst games up until that point in his career. Hell, we even put him in the Oklahoma Hall of Fame right before he left. We even ignored that he played for fucking texass.

TLDR: Fuck kd, I never want to see that jersey in our rafters

OKC should waited for the Rockets to come to down to retire Westbrooks jersey. That’s as class as KD would get to an OKC jersey retirement for awhile.

They need to wait until the fans won’t boo him anymore. Which may be a long wait.

Can you imagine the awkwardness of a jersey retirement where the whole thing is drowned out by thunderous boos?

I think OKC and GSW will retire it eventually.

I’ll cry for you

not sure even okc fans would believe that now

Nah…Nick Collison jersey is already in the rafters

Shai already accomplished more

oh honey…