By Jamarius Jennings
Oscar Robertson has held a record that has stood for 55 years with 41 triple doubles in the 1961-62 season. As time in the league has passed, we NBA fans have speculated and wondered who may be the next person to break that record in the modern era. When the seasons have come and gone our perspective expectations have diminished a bit concerning NBA players who could average a triple double. LeBron James is probably the most favorable athlete who NBA fans thought would average a triple double eventually being 6’8 and 250 pounds, but that hasn’t happened. Surprisingly, the first player to break that record since Robertson is the 6’3, 200 pound point guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder Russell Westbrook for the 2016-2017 year. Westbrook even broke Robertson’s regular season triple double record of 41 by getting his 42rd triple double on the third to last game against the Denver Nuggets.
These feats makes Russell Westbrook the front runner for this year’s MVP award, but even if he doesn’t win the trophy that shouldn’t and won’t stop his future endorsement, marketing and advertising enhancements after his historic season. Westbrook is already endorsed by Mountain Dew, True Religion, Jordan and Kickstart to name a few. Companies want the best athletes in the world to represent them. With Russell surpassing one of the top 50 greatest players in NBA history by breaking a monumental record that hasn’t been broken since the 1961-62 season, his endorsements, various commercials, sponsors and different partnerships with global companies should soar through the roof. Other players that have endorsements and channel different advertising schemes potentially have it harder than Westbrook, even if it’s just for a short time, because he already has the angle that companies could jump on which makes it easier to market: breaking Oscar Robertson’s single season triple double record and averaging a triple double for the season. Those two achievements in themselves are PR and advertising gold. The core of any commercial, shoe deal, PR angle or advertising tactic already has its blueprint because Russell Westbrook has put in the dirty work to break these records which put him and his brand in a better position to thrive from a business/marketing standpoint.
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