Westbrook passed Robertson when the Wizards’ point guard grabbed his 10th rebound in the fourth quarter at State Farm Arena. That gave him 21 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds at that time. Robertson set the record of 181 triple-doubles on March 24, 1974, and had been the all-time leader in the category since the 1961-62 season. Robertson’s record stood until Monday as Westbrook continued his triple-double assault.
Shortly after Westbrook became the new triple-double king, the Wizards posted a video featuring congratulatory messages from the game’s greatest triple-double threats.
“I’m very happy for you,” Robertson said to lead off the video. “Your family is very proud of you. And I salute you for all your accomplishments in the game of basketball.”
Magic Johnson, who is third all-time in triple-doubles with 138, said: “Congratulations on passing Oscar Robertson and becoming the NBA’s all-time leader in triple-doubles!”
Current Lakers assistant coach Jason Kidd referred to Westbrook as “Mr. Triple-Double.”
“What a feat,” said Kidd, who is fourth all-time with 107 triple-doubles. “Incredible. You left me a long time ago. But you are going to go down as Mr. Triple-Double.”
LeBron James, who has 99 career triple-doubles, paid his respect to Westbrook.
“It’s [an] incredible feat,” James said. “Someone had to do it. Why not you? Impressive bro. Impressive.”