Russell Westbrook Dedicates 20-20-20 Game To Nipsey Hussle, MVP Race No Closer

Russell Westbrook became just the second player in NBA history to record 20 points, 20 assists and 20 rebounds in a game as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Los Angeles Lakers 119-103 on Tuesday night.

The Thunder point guard achieved the feat when he claimed a rebound in the final minute of the game and was given a huge round of applause by the home crowd. Westbrook was quick to dedicate his record setting feat to the late rapper Nipsey Hussle, who was gunned down Sunday outside his clothing store in Los Angeles.

Westbrook could be seen mouthing “That’s for Nipsey” after he ended the game with 20 points, 21 assists and 20 rebounds. Wilt Chamberlain is the only other basketball player to achieve this feat when he finished a game in 1968 with 22 points, 25 rebounds and 21 assists.

“That wasn’t for me,” Westbrook told TNT after the game. “That was for my bro. That’s for Nipsey — 20 plus 20 plus 20.”

“Somebody I looked up to, somebody that paved the way for a guy like myself growing up in the inner city,” he added. “To have those conversations with him. I’m just truly saddened by the situation, just continue to pray for his family.”

The 2017 MVP is well on course to averaging a triple-double for the third consecutive season. Westbrook needs three more assists in the remaining four games for the Thunder and he will match Oscar Robertson, who accomplished the same feat in 1962.

Despite his record-setting performances for Thunder again this season and fans praising his feats on the court, Westbrook is nowhere in the running for the regular season MVP, with James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo well ahead of the rest of the pack.

The Houston Rockets point guard and the Milwaukee Bucks forward have been on another level this season, averaging impressive numbers while also leading their team into the post-season. The Bucks are well on course to finish the season as the best NBA team in the league in terms of the win-loss record, which makes the ‘Greek Freak’ the favorite to pick up the MVP award.

According to oddsshark, Antetokounmpo is leading the way at -125 with Harden currently in second with +110 odds. In third place is Westbrook’s Thunder teammate Paul George, who with odds of +600, is among the favorites to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award.