Russell Westbrook’s retirement has reopened a question Oklahoma City has never escaped: how much should a franchise immortalize a player whose impact was both extraordinary and complicated? The former MVP spent his defining years building the Thunder’s identity, yet his career eventually took him far away from the organization that drafted him. 

Now, as tributes pour in, Kendrick Perkins has raised the bar for how OKC should remember its former superstar.

“You could argue and debate in the barbershop or wherever you go about who was the most athletic point guard to ever play the game,” Perkins opened up the conversation, speaking on ESPN’s NBA Today. “And some people may say, Derrick Rose. I say, Russell Westbrook.”

Perkins argued that Westbrook’s OKC legacy deserves more than a ceremony in the rafters. He began by addressing the debate over the most athletic point guard in NBA history. He pointed out Russ’ explosiveness, transition speed, and unusual defensive athleticism.

Then came his larger argument.

“Russell Westbrook, not only should he have his jersey retired in Oklahoma City, but he should have a statue out there as well,” Perkins said. He also placed Westbrook behind only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander among the greatest players in Thunder history.

That ranking can be debated. Westbrook’s connection to OKC cannot. 

The Thunder selected Russell Westbrook fourth overall in the 2008 NBA Draft (as the Seattle SuperSonics, who relocated to Oklahoma City shortly afterward), and he quickly became one of the pillars of the franchise’s relocation from Seattle to OKC.

Alongside Kevin Durant and later James Harden, he helped establish a team that became a serious contender and reached the 2012 NBA Finals.

His individual resume eventually became impossible to ignore. Westbrook won the 2017 MVP and became the first player since Oscar Robertson to average a triple-double for an entire season.

He eventually did it across four seasons. He turned one of the league’s rare statistical achievements into a new normal.

Sam Presti, OKC GM, issued a retirement statement that focused less on the numbers. But more on what Russell Westbrook represented.

“Russell Westbrook is the ultimate competitor,” the Thunder GM wrote. Presti credited his “internal belief and unbridled fearlessness” with helping establish the foundation of the organization from its earliest days.

Presti also highlighted something that statistics cannot capture. Westbrook’s influence extended into the OKC community, where his personality and competitive edge became part of the franchise’s identity.

“He built a Hall of Fame career not by making statements or simply by breaking records,” Presti wrote. “He did it by showing us all the power of asking one simple question: Why Not?”

That legacy stands in sharp contrast to the final phase of Russell Westbrook’s playing career. After leaving OKC, he played for Houston, Washington, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Clippers, and Denver before finishing with Sacramento. His final season still produced 15.2 ppg, 5.4 rebounds, and 6.7 apg, but his market value had fallen dramatically.

His final three NBA contracts all came at the veteran minimum.

That decline does not erase what came before it. If anything, it makes the contrast more striking. A player once viewed as one of the league’s most overwhelming forces eventually had to fight simply to remain in the NBA.

Perkins’ statue argument now gives the Thunder another decision to consider.