Nikola Jokic eyeing triple-double record following Russell Westbrook's retirement image
On Wednesday afternoon, former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook revealed on social media that he was retiring from the NBA after 18 seasons.
One thing Westbrook was known for was being a triple-double machine in his prime, but despite having 209 career triple-doubles, that record might not be safe for much longer.
Nikola Jokic eyeing triple-double record following Russell Westbrook's retirement
Here's what the all-time leaderboard for career triple-doubles looks like ahead of the 2026-27 NBA season.
Player Triple-doubles
1. Russell Westbrook 209
2. Nikola Jokic 198
With Westbrook now retired, Jokic has the most triple-doubles by an active player. LeBron James would be next among active players, with 125 in his career.
Jokic is now just 11 triple-doubles away from tying Westbrook's record total, which we can all assume will happen eventually, but should happen in this upcoming season.
Jokic has had 34 triple-doubles in each of the last two seasons, playing in 65+ games in each season.
That alone should tell you it's going to happen this upcoming year, as long as Jokic is healthy, but it should only take about ~20-25 games for Jokic to get the record, given he averaged a triple-double every other game last season.
Younger stars like Luka Doncic will eye this record down the road, but Doncic has 90 at the moment, which puts him far away from the top.
Claiming a record like this will only continue to show fans how much of a once-in-a-generation talent Jokic is, especially by passing Westbrook's mark at age 31 or 32, with potentially several more years ahead to extend the record total.
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