Russell Westbrook continues to sit out as he recovers from an ankle injury he sustained earlier this week. Westbrook’s return timeline has not been announced, but the X-Ray results did provide a bit of good news for Thunder fans. That said, Thunder head coach Billy Donovan admitted before the Thunder-Rockets game on November 8 that he does not know if Westbrook is close to returning.
“Russell Westbrook is out tonight against the Rockets, Billy Donovan says. Asked if he’s close to returning Donovan said, ‘I don’t know that,’” ESPN’s Royce Young tweeted.
According to ESPN, Westbrook sustained an ankle sprain, but the X-rays show it was not anything more serious. Westbrook has already missed two games this week counting Thursday’s contest against the Rockets.
Westbrook is on a game-by-game basis meaning fans may not know his status for each game until just before tip-off. Thunder forward Paul George admitted he initially thought it was something serious.
“Russ has a pretty high pain tolerance, so I knew it was something that was serious,” George explained to ESPN. “I was just hoping it wasn’t his knee. I thought I saw him holding his knee. I think we can all say it’s unfortunate, we can all say as bad as it was, we’re happy it wasn’t the knee and that it was just an ankle sprain.”
Paul George Believes the Thunder Are a Championship Contender With Westbrook
Westbrook missed the start of the season after having a small procedure done to his knee. George believes that a healthy Westbrook makes the Thunder a championship contender.
“I think we are [in a championship window],” George told Yahoo Sports. “We have a good opportunity. We got a team that can be one of the best defensive teams that I’ve been a part of. And I’ve been a part of some good defensive teams, so we know what we got over here. This is definitely an opportunity…[Westbrook] just competes. That’s the main attraction, a guy that’s gonna compete and play hard. Regardless if he wasn’t who he was, I still like the level he competes at. You’re gonna get everything, every night. And you wanna play with that every night.”
Here is how the Thunder described Westbrook’s knee procedure prior to the season in a press release per NBA.com.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook underwent a successful arthroscopic procedure on his right knee, Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti announced today.
The Thunder, Westbrook and his representation determined that after he experienced inflammation in his knee this past weekend that the best course of action was the proactive procedure, performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache with Thunder medical personnel present at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles.
Westbrook’s current injury is unrelated, but it is unfortunate timing given the point guard was starting to find his footing.
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Russell Westbrook Injury: When Will Thunder PG Play Again?