OKC Thunder: Another Russell Westbrook knee procedure follows alarming trend
By Alex Mcewen
OKC Thunder players, most namely Russell Westbrook tend to undergo late offseason procedures. Let’s examine the list of past procedures.
The NBA offseason lasts a minimum of three months, giving players ample time to undergo procedures to address injuries sustained from the prior season. Such as Paul George, who underwent surgery on his elbow and knee 13 days after the OKC Thunder season ended.
However, Russell Westbrook underwent a right knee procedure on September 12, 10 days before training camp opens. Which, could put Westbrook in jeopardy of missing the entire preseason and potentially the season opener.
If cleared after four weeks, Westbrook could be back for the opener against the Warriors on Oct. 16, but obviously there will be no rush for him to play.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) September 12, 2018
Westbrook’s knee scope is the latest in a lengthy list of procedures the star Thunder guard has undergone late in the offseason.
Past Westbrook late offseason procedures
- Right knee scope, October 1, 2013
- Left knee platelet rich plasma (PRP) injection, September, 2017
- Right knee scope, September 12, 2018
The timing of these three procedures is more concerning than the procedure itself. Due to the Thunder and Westbrook electing to have the procedures so late in the offseason it has forced Westbrook to miss training camp and early regular season games in the past.
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For the record, Westbrook is not the only player to have surgery late in the offseason, Suns star Devin Booker recently had surgery on his right hand. Thunder forward Patrick Patterson underwent left knee surgery on August 10, 2017, therefore procedures are not uncommon to have late in the offseason. However, such procedures could affect team bonding during training camp.
The training portion of camp Westbrook will be absent for is less important, than the chemistry building process Russ will miss during camp. The bonding that takes place during training camp is valuable and for the second consecutive season, Westbrook will be forced to miss it.
Prior to Westbrook having surgery, the OKC Thunder’s biggest task was filling the vacant starting power forward position. Now, Oklahoma city will potentially be tasked with filling three starting spots, power forward, shooting guard (depending on Andre Roberson’s availability), and point guard.
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All in all, Oklahoma City can still get off to a good start behind PG and Steven Adams, along with contributions from Dennis Schröder, Jerami Grant, and others. Hopefully, the third time will be the charm and Westbrook will not undergo yet another late-summer procedure in the future.