The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) announced Wednesday that Houston Rockets guard and school alum Russell Westbrook is part of the 2020 UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame Class.
Established in 1919, the men’s basketball program at UCLA has 11 national titles — the most of any school, ever. They’ve also made the NCAA Final Four 17 times, which is the second-most of any program. As a result, qualifying for its Hall of Fame as a hoops player is quite an honor.
Westbrook played at UCLA in the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons, and the Bruins made the Final Four in both of those years. In Westbrook’s second season at UCLA, he was teammates with fellow NBA star Kevin Love — who is also being inducted in the 2020 class.
In the school’s press release, here’s what they say about Westbrook:
Prior to becoming the 2017 NBA Most Valuable Player, Russell Westbrook helped UCLA advance to back-to-back NCAA Final Fours in 2007 and 2008.
During his two years in Westwood, the Bruins compiled a 65-10 overall record and win percentage of 86.7. His Bruin teams won the Pac-10 titles in 2007 and 2008, along with the Pac-10 Tournament Championship in 2008. Westbrook led the team in 2008 in assists (167) and steals (63) and was third in scoring (12.7 ppg) and rebounding (3.9 rpg).
The upcoming nine-member @UCLAAthletics Hall of Fame induction class will include Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love.
After a Final Four appearance, Russell & Kevin were selected back-to-back in the 2008 @NBADraft.
ℹ️: https://t.co/AoWubQMezE pic.twitter.com/g3TiWHviFK
— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) July 15, 2020
Understandably, the school is also very proud of Westbrook’s accomplishments over the past 12 years at the NBA level.
“The No. 4 overall selection in the 2008 NBA Draft, Westbrook is one of the league’s top stars, leading the league in scoring in 2014-15 and 2016-17,” UCLA writes in Wednesday’s press release. “In each of the last three full seasons, he averaged a triple-double, and he ranks No. 2 all-time with 146 career triple-doubles.” The PR continues:
The nine-time NBA All-Star has been named an All-NBA Team member eight times and was selected to the NBA’s All-Rookie Team in 2009. In 2012, he was a member of Team USA’s Olympic gold medal-winning team, and he also won gold with the U.S. at the 2010 FIBA World Championships.
Now 31 years old, Westbrook is currently sidelined from his NBA team due to a positive COVID-19 test. But he says he’s feeling well, and the Rockets expect him to rejoin the team in relatively short order.
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