Russell Westbrook Closing In on Hapoel Tel Aviv and EuroLeague Move

What was rumor two weeks ago is now taking shape as negotiations. Russell Westbrook and Hapoel Tel Aviv are in active talks with mutual interest, according to The Athletic. The 37-year-old point guard is seriously considering making the jump to European basketball for the first time in eighteen seasons as a professional.

Update August 12

Story updated August 12 announcing the player's retirement

If completed, it would be one of the biggest moves of the European summer. No active NBA MVP had ever landed in Europe with this profile and these recent numbers.

Why He's Available

Westbrook's case is not that of a washed-up veteran, and that's what makes it striking. Last season, his eighteenth in the league, he averaged 15.2 points, 6.7 assists and 5.4 rebounds with the Sacramento Kings—numbers that at any other time would have guaranteed him an immediate contract. However, free agency has stalled for him: the NBA market no longer seeks point guards of his age and profile, no matter how respectable their numbers.

His résumé is beyond dispute. 2017 MVP, nine-time All-Star, over two hundred triple-doubles and the fifteenth all-time leading scorer in league history after surpassing Oscar Robertson last January. With that pedigree, just a few years ago the idea of seeing him in Tel Aviv would have sounded like a joke.

What Hapoel Gains and What He Gains

The Israeli club has been operating for some time as one of the most ambitious and best-financed projects on the continent. They won the EuroCup in 2025 and have turned their access to the top competition into a race to accumulate star names. Signing Westbrook would be the definitive coup in that plan, with a media impact that transcends the sporting realm.

For the player, the appeal is different: a starring role, a contract that the NBA no longer offers him, and a competition that has recently treated point guards arriving from across the Atlantic very well. Recent precedents confirm this. Kendrick Nunn signed for 19.4 points per game with Panathinaikos last EuroLeague season; Lonnie Walker IV averaged 15.3 with Maccabi Tel Aviv. Neither of them went there to retire.

What Remains Unclear

Hapoel is not alone in the bidding. Two weeks ago we reported that Panathinaikos and Dubai Basketball were also closely monitoring the point guard's situation, and neither has ruled out the move. The fact that talks with the Israeli club are the most advanced does not mean they are closed.

There remains the underlying question, the sporting one. EuroLeague is a more tactical, slower-paced competition with the three-point line as non-negotiable territory, and that has always been the weak point of Westbrook's game. Adapting would require the California native to do something he hasn't needed to do in eighteen years.