Sacramento Kings star Russell Westbrook started out the New Year by making NBA history.
Westbrook scored 17 points during a 129-120 Friday night loss to the Phoenix Suns to bring his career total to 26,711 points.
That moved Westbrook past Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson for 15th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
It also made Westbrook the highest-scoring point guard in NBA history, according to the NBC Sports broadcast.
Westbrook is now 236 points short of moving past Houston Rockets icon Hakeem Olajuwon for 14th on the NBA’s all-time leaderboard.
He went into Friday’s game having averaged 14.4 points in 34 games and 28 starts of his first season with the Kings.
Westbrook added to that total while shooting 6-for-12 from the field and 1-for-3 from deep for 17 points, while contributing nine rebounds and six assists, in Friday’s loss.
Those contributions weren’t able to help the Kings compete with the Suns, who made the game a blowout in the third quarter.
The Kings dropped to 8-27 following the defeat. Given Sacramento’s likely status as trade deadline sellers and Westbrook’s expiring one-year contract, there’s a possibility he could be playing for another team later this season as he continues his quest to climb the NBA’s all-time leaderboard.