Coming off a historic MVP campaign, expectations for Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook are higher than they have ever been before. Westbrook has solidified himself as a borderline top five player in the NBA and now with the addition of Paul George this summer, the Thunder are expected to be one of the legitimate threats in the Western Conference.
For an athlete who performs with the aggressiveness and relentlessness that Westbrook does, the guard has done a better job than most expected when it comes to maintaining his health and conditioning despite being more susceptible to injury with his breakneck style of play. However, Westbrook will come into this season slightly hindered as GM Sam Presti revealed that Westbrook underwent platelet-rich plasma injections in his right knee earlier this summer, according to The Oklahoman’s Erik Horne:
Russell Westbrook had a platelet rich plasma injection in his right knee, says Presti. Unrelated to past injuries. Will play in preseason.
— Erik Horne (@ErikHorneOK) September 22, 2017
Though Russell Westbrook isn’t expected to miss any real time due to the operation, ESPN’s Royce Young confirms that Presti expects his point guard to miss the first few days of training camp and nothing more:
Presti says Westbrook had a PRP injection on his right knee and will miss the first few days of training camp. Says it's "nothing serious."
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) September 22, 2017
Though Westbrook escaped last season with no major injury, the PRP treatment was likely undergone just to clean up any potential complications and to make sure he’s at his best heading into this important season. Though we may not see him for the beginning of training camp or in the preseason, expect Westbrook to follow up his MVP campaign with another year of ripping apart NBA defenses.
