Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook underwent a successful arthroscopic procedure on his right knee, the team announced Wednesday:
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.
According to ESPN’s Royce Young, the surgery will likely keep Westbrook out of training camp:
Westbrook experienced some stiffness in the knee over the past week during individual workouts while preparing for training camp. He elected to have a standard scope as a pre-emptive “maintenance” procedure rather than potentially dealing with issues throughout the season.
While the timing is not ideal with Thunder training camp opening on Sept. 25, the situation is not viewed by the team as anything to be alarmed about, with no lingering issues anticipated to follow the procedure.
Westbrook, the MVP of the 2016-17 NBA season, is one of the biggest stars in the NBA. Last season for Oklahoma City, he averaged 25.4 points, 10.1 rebounds, 10.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game while shooting 44.9 percent from the field and 29.8 percent from 3-point range.
Should Westbrook miss regular-season time, Dennis Schröder, whom the Thunder acquired from the Atlanta Hawks earlier this summer, will be the presumed starter.
