The hits keep coming for the Oklahoma City Thunder and none of them are good. The injury bug has hit every member of the Thunder’s projected starting lineup and beyond this season at one point or another.
Russell Westbrook had 2 instances where he had a serious injury. Early in the season he had an issue with his hand and last month he broke a bone in his face.
Thunder guard Andre Roberson battled through a foot issue early in the season.
Kevin Durant has been off and on all season battling through his own foot issues stemming from a foot surgery he had in the offseason.
Steven Adams broke his hand and just returned after missing some time.
Thunder first round pick Mitch McGary missed a big chunk of the season due to his foot issues.
Now the most consistent part of the Thunder lineup, Serge Ibaka, has received the worst possible news.
According to ESPN’s Royce Young, Serge Ibaka will require knee surgery.
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka will undergo a knee procedure to address some persistent soreness, sources told ESPN.com.
Serge Ibaka has missed the past two games with knee soreness, prompting the Thunder to send him to a specialist.
It is not clear how long Ibaka will be sidelined following the surgery.The Thunder have not confirmed that Ibaka will undergo the surgery, saying in a statement Monday that they have sent him to a specialist.
“As we continue to monitor and evaluate the soreness in Serge’s knee, in consultation with his representation, we decided the next best step is to have him travel to New York to see a specialist,” a team spokesman said. “We will provide an update as appropriate.”
Ibaka, 25, is averaging 14.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in 64 games this season. He missed the Thunder’s past two games with what the team called ‘knee soreness’, his first missed games of the season. As Young stated, he will see a specialist in New York for further evaluation, with the expectation for him to have a clean-out procedure in order to be ready for the postseason.
The Thunder are fighting through all these insane injury issues, one at a time and have somehow managed to stay afloat in the Western Conference playoff picture at the eighth and final spot. A heavy portion of that success has to do with the stellar play of MVP candidate, Russell Westbrook.
The trades the Thunder made at the deadline seem more and more important as the season goes on. Enes Kanter and Kyle Singler just became 2 of the more pivotal members to the team in the blink of an eye.
