SACRAMENTO – Just a few weeks ago, Russell Westbrook was jobless following the completion of his 17th NBA season.

On Wednesday night, just days before his 37th birthday, he recorded his 204th career triple-double with 23 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in 35 minutes to help lead the Kings to a thrilling 121-116 win over the Golden State Warriors.

“Honestly, it’s just a blessing,” Westbrook said postgame. “I don’t take this game [or] opportunity to be able to go out and compete for granted. So I’m just super grateful and thankful to be able to go out and still compete.”

Approaching age 37. In season 18. Through 1,244 career games.

How?

Kings guard Malik Monk, 27, wanted to know the same thing.

“I asked him [Westbrook] what he do,” Monk said Wednesday night. “I need his off-the-court [routine]. What are you doing in the summer? I need everything. How you eat. It’s crazy. 

“How you that old and still doing this and dominating the game at a high level?”

Preparation is the key for Westbrook, as well as taking good care of his body, he said.

The nine-time NBA All-Star added that he takes the game “very seriously” as he continues to make the most of his opportunity with Sacramento.

To Kings coach Doug Christie, it’s less about the physical and more about Westbrook’s mental approach to the game that allows him to still play at such a high level.

“First, he’s a Hall of Fame, incredible talent,” Christie said. “But the passion and desire that he plays with is crazy. That’s really what the game is about. It’s about a kids’ game that you still play with that type of effort, energy and enthusiasm. 

“It’s beautiful to watch.”

A “Vintage Russ” performance in the year 2025 had fans wondering, “How was this guy unsigned one month ago?”

Even after his recent “they didn’t want me back” comments referring to the Denver Nuggets, the team he was a part of last season, Westbrook maintains his motives in Year 18 aren’t to prove anything to another team or person, but rather to himself.

“To be honest, I don’t live up to anybody else’s expectations that they put on me,” Westbrook said. “I have my own personal goals and aspirations, things I want to do. So to be honest, I have nothing [to prove]. 

“I know what I’m capable of doing when given the opportunity, and now my job is to go out there and do it.”

Part of that job, and one of the reasons the Kings signed Westbrook, is due to his 1-of-1 rebounding ability as a point guard.

He had 16 boards on Wednesday. No other player on either team finished with double-digit rebounds. The next players closest were Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski, another guard, who had nine apiece.

 “I mean, humbly speaking, I’m the best rebounding guard ever,” Westbrook said. “So when the ball comes across the rim, I’m going to get it.”

Westbrook’s 16 rebounds on Wednesday gave him a career total of 8,734 and helped him surpass Jason Kidd for the guard with the most career rebounds in NBA history. Kidd finished his career with 8,725.

That postgame exchange, from the playful banter to the meme-worthy moments, is the type of presence the Kings have needed. Westbrook’s confidence off the floor translates on the court and even rubs off on his teammates.

While Westbrook is happy to have found a home in Sacramento, he knows the Kings can also benefit from the mental edge he brings night in and night out.

“It’s needed. Every night, teams are getting better. Teams are loading up. Every night is a dogfight. Our schedule is pretty rough right now, but I do think if we knuckle up, compete at a high level, and that’s something that I want to bring as a part of my leadership and making sure that us as Kings, we come out and compete at the highest level, and we can live with the result at the end of the game.”

Before signing Westbrook, the Kings added veteran guard Dennis Schroder to the mix this offseason.

Christie has made it clear that Schroder is the starting point guard and the team’s floor general. But Schroder hasn’t quite found his rhythm with the starting unit thus far, granted it’s constantly changed due to injuries and absences, which likely has played a factor.

With Keegan Murray out as he rehabs from UCL surgery, Westbrook has started alongside Schroder. But could Westbrook’s performance on Wednesday keep him in the starting lineup even when other players return? His energy is something Monk believes the team needs in the starting unit, given the way they’ve started games in the past. Christie shared his thoughts.

“Once players come back, I think, you know, we brought Russ in to be the backup point guard, but he has so many gifts,” Christie said. “He played the four, so he’s going to play all over the floor because of his physicality, his downhill nature. He rebounds the basketball at a high level. But I think when we’re fully healthy, he even makes us better, because Russell Westbrook playing against second unit players is like, it’s a cheat code.

“But I mean, he’s going to find his way into closing games, to every aspect of what it is for us to be a winning basketball team, because he’s a winning basketball player.”

Not a yes. But also not a no …

If patience runs out for the Kings with Schroder as the lead man, they could turn to the Triple-Double King.

Why Not?

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