Russell Westbrook seemingly shut down some rumors on Thursday by sharing on Instagram that he will return for an 18th season of basketball — not sharing where he will play or with whom just yet.
Westbrook played last season with the Denver Nuggets, where he had a surprising boost in production playing alongside three-time MVP Nikola Jokic. The former MVP Westbrook carried his strong contributions into the playoffs, where he was a difference maker against his old team, the Los Angeles Clippers, in Round 1. But after he helped get the Nuggets to Round 2 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, where Westbrook is a franchise legend, the point guard’s play was an unmitigated disaster.
Westbrook goes into the summer needing some recovery for a wrist injury he’s had surgery on and with the need to make a decison on his contract.
Now that his future includes another year of basketball, he will have a choice of picking up his player option with the Nuggets for $3.5 million. He can actually decline that and negotiate a more lucrative contract with Denver or hit the market again.
There was a rumor on Wednesday that an Israeli club was set to offer Westbrook a deal unlike anything ever seen in European basketball. Perhaps Westbrook’s post Thursday is in response and shutting down the notion he’ll be playing anywhere but the NBA?
Last season, Westbrook averaged 13.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 6.1 assists on 45 percent shooting from the field and 32 percent shooting from 3-point range. His shooting was good against the Clippers as the Nuggets rode his spark to beat them in seven games. Against the Thunder, he shot a brutal 35% from the field and 22% from distance while tossing 18 turnovers in the series.
Westbrook made a nice early-season connection with Jokic. But he never got the Nuggets’ bench issues fixed, which is why he was brought in. Additionally, he had an altercation with Aaron Gordon during the playoffs that boiled over into the media. The Nuggets forward had his veteran’s back through the drama, but it wasn’t the first issue. As the way head coach Michael Malone treated Westbrook wore thin on the locker room, according to reports, tensions rose. That was one of several factors that led to Malone — the winningest coach in franchise history — being fired late in the season.
Westbrook was exactly who the NBA knows him to be: running hot on the floor and off of it, productive when it doesn’t matter much, and making critical mistakes when it does matter. He will be that player again in 2025-26, and possibly in Denver. Where he plays may be a question, but what his impact will be is pretty obvious, as is his status as a future Hall of Famer.
