Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook has never missed a single game in his high school, college and NBA career.
Until now.
Shocking news broke on Friday when it was announced that the guard will need knee surgery after suffering a torn meniscus in Game 2 against the Houston Rockets when he collided with Patrick Beverly. The exact moment of the injury can be found here:
And here is an official report from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:
“The meniscus tear is considered to be minimal – perhaps 2 percent of the meniscus, one source said – and Westbrook’s recovery could be weeks instead of months, if the doctor decides to simply “clean up” the meniscus. A full repair of the meniscus would likely mean a three-month recovery for Westbrook.
The Thunder and Westbrook don’t want to risk anything with the long-term stability of his knee, sources said, and aren’t pushing for the short-term solution over the longer-term procedure.
You can question the way Westbrook plays the game sometimes, from shot selection to, well, shot selection. Something you can never question about him is the heart and drive he has for the game of basketball, and that’s especially true given this fact: he injured his knee half way into the second quarter, but still managed to play the remainder of the game. One can only imagine the myriad of injuries he must have played through in his career.
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We’ve already lost David Lee and Kobe Bryant for the playoffs, and it’s an absolute shame that an iron man like Westbrook has to join the list. Unfortunately, injuries are simply a part of the game, and it happens whether it’s the preseason, regular season or the playoffs. Here’s what Beverly had to say when he heard about Westbrook’s injury, from Jonathan Feigen of Houston Chronicle:
One thing to look out for with this news is how Kevin Durant will respond. The story in Oklahoma City has always been that Durant needed to shoot more than Westbrook. He will now have all the shots he can handle. Here is what he had to say about his fallen teammate, from Steve von Horn of SBNation:
“It’s unfortunate for a guy who loves to play the game so much, who’s dedicated and committed to his team, who gives his all every second he’s on the floor. A lot of people may not like what he brings to our team, but inside we love what he does. He’s a different player and a different person, but we love what he brings and it’s unfortunate that he can’t compete at the highest level basketball, which is the playoffs. You know, we’re just praying for him and hopefully he comes back and has a full recovery and has a speedy recovery. We’ve just got to step up in his absence.”
“Well, we hope [he can come back this year]. Our first thing is to make sure that he gets healthy and gets that knee back right. The basketball part, you know, we’re not trying to rush him or bring him back ahead of schedule. We want to make sure he’s healthy and his knee is right. That’s our only concern with it right now, and as players we have to come together as a team and worry about the basketball. All he has to worry about is him getting healthy.”
Teams in the Western Conference may feel relieved that they may not have to face Westbrook for a while, but Gregg Popovich explained how most probably felt, from Jeff McDonald of Express-News:
“Nobody wants to see anything like that,” coach Gregg Popovich said of Westbrook’s injury. “I don’t know how serious it is. Hopefully, they can take care of it and he can get back. The playoffs last a long time. It’s a horrible thing for any team, any player this time of year. Everybody wants to be whole.”
Here are the reactions of many from around the league about Westbrook’s injury (click through):