Celebrities Can Be Heroes - Russell Westbrook
Russell Westbrook: #Whynot Be a Force For Good
Born in Long Beach, California, 31-year-old Russell Westbrook is an amazing basketball player. Westbrook began to develop his game at Leuzinger High School in Lawndale, California, and went on to play for the UCLA Bruins in Los Angeles where, in his second season, he became the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. After only two years at UCLA, Westbrook entered the NBA draft and was selected 4th overall by the Seattle Supersonics. Just six days later, the team moved to Oklahoma City and changed their name to the Thunder. After 11 seasons in Oklahoma, this All-Star now plays for the Houston Rockets.
Yes, this nine-time NBA All-Star earned the NBA Most Valuable Player Award in the 2016–17 season; he’s an eight-time All-NBA Team member; and he led the league in scoring in 2014-15 and 2016-17. And, if that’s not enough proof positive, Westbrook won back-to-back NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player awards in 2015, ’16 and ’17.
But here’s the real magic of Russell Westbrook: Selflessness. Westbrook became one of only two players in NBA history to average a triple-double for a single season. (The other player was Oscar Robertson in 1962.) Sidebar for a quick sports lesson: a triple-double is when a player accumulates ten or more (a double-digit total) in three of five statistical categories (points, rebounds, assists, steals, or blocked shots) in a single game. The most common combination is points, rebounds and assists. Besides setting a record for the most triple-doubles in a season with 42, Westbrook went on to average a triple-double the following two seasons, led the league in assists, and became the first player to lead the league in points and assists in multiple seasons. He is currently second in NBA history, behind the legendary Oscar Robertson, in career triple-doubles. His ability to score points—and more importantly, to assist his fellow players to score points—is his superpower.
But Westbrook’s selflessness is not limited to the basketball court. Off the court, he has created the Why Not? Foundation. Founded in 2012, the mission of the Russell Westbrook Why Not? Foundation is “to inspire the lives of children, empower them to ask ‘Why not?’ and teach them to never give up.”
In addition to donating and raising funds, Russell Westbrook is in the community being a Force For Good, creating Russell Reading Rooms in elementary schools and hosting community Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas gift parties for the underserved, and basketball camps. He joins other forces for good to support and promote job skills for at-risk young adults, clothing donations, and children’s rehabilitation centers. And for all of Westbrook’s good work, we see him to be a hero by example, not just by celebrity.
For more information, visit whynotfoundation.org.
—Hillary Black, Force For Good Editor