Oklahoma City Thunder’s star point guard Russell Westbrook underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Wednesday according to ESPN‘s Royce Young. While the procedure is nothing that OKC fans should worry about, the 29-year-old will miss the preseason and might not be ready for the start of the season.
Westbrook reportedly experienced “stiffness” in his right knee during the past few weeks and decided to have a procedure a pre-emptive measure.
This is the same knee Russell Westbrook suffered a meniscus tear in after a collision with Patrick Beverley in 2013 playoff series against the Houston Rockets. Following the injury, Westbrook went to have three surgeries in the following nine months but hasn’t had troubles since then. He even bounced back to win an NBA MVP award for the 2016-17 season and average a triple-double in the past two seasons.
Oklahoma City Thunder will re-evaluate Russell Westbrook after four weeks, just in time for their season opener on October 16 against the Golden State Warriors. If Westbrook gets cleared to play by the medical staff, he will be featured in the starting line-up, but OKC will not rush to get him back to the court at all means. While Westbrook is going to miss this extended period of time, the overall feeling around the organization is not alarming, and everyone expects him to get back to his usual self in November.
While Thunder had another disappointing season last year, Russell Westbrook still managed to put MVP-worthy numbers. He averaged 25.4 points, 10.2 assists, 10.1 rebounds, and 1.8 steals while being named an All-Star and earning All-NBA Second Team honors.
