Top 100 moments of the 2018-19 NBA season, Part 2

12. Russell Westbrook becomes the new triple-double king

To clarify, Russell Westbrook did not climb to the No. 1 spot on the NBA’s all-time triple-double list. In fact, there wasn’t any one moment this season where it became undeniably clear that he was the new face of the triple-double.

But much like Stephen Curry continues to take steps toward being universally recognized as the greatest shooter the NBA has ever seen, so too is Russ becoming the name we’ll most associate with the feat of recording 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a single game.

For starters, Russ passed Jason Kid for third on the all-time triple-double list thanks to a 21-17-15 line against the Nets in early December. With 34 by season’s end and 138 in his career, he’s tied with Magic Johnson for second place, and 43 behind Oscar Robertson for the most in NBA history.

For another thing, the man just recorded the NBA’s longest streak of consecutive games with a triple-double, notching 11 straight from Jan. 22-Feb. 14. He averaged an absurd 21.9 points, 13.5 assists and 13.3 rebounds per game and the Thunder went 9-2 in that span. Russ even passed Gary Payton as the franchise’s all-time scoring leader in the final game of that stretch.

Finally, even without mentioning the ridiculous 20-20-20 game (which we already included in our “top 100 individual performances of the season” list), Westbrook averaged a triple-double for the third straight season. No one but the Big O has even done it once, let alone three years straight.

Oscar Robertson will always be synonymous with the triple-double for achieving the feat first, and at various points throughout NBA history, guys like Magic Johnson, Jason Kidd and LeBron James felt like threats to his throne. After this season, Russell Westbrook is rapidly climbing past them all to become the new face of the triple-double.