Just when the Oklahoma City Thunder put last years playoff memories behind them, they were notified recently that Russell Westbrook won’t be back at the start of the season.
Today, the Thunder announced that Westbrook will need another 4-6 weeks off from the start of the 2013-14 regular season before he can come back after another surgery to repair his meniscus.
If you already didn’t know, Westbrook tore his lateral meniscus during the 1st round of last year’s playoffs, and ended OKC’s dream of an NBA Finals appearance a lot quicker than they thought. And this was the first season the Thunder were without their 6th man, James Harden who they traded to Houston in the summer of 2012.
Via ESPN, Harden was thinking about the contract extension that the Thunder proposed after the 2012 NBA season concluded. Meanwhile, he was then traded because the Thunder didn’ t think they would be able to reach an agreement with Harden. It was a shock to Harden, and every OKC fan in existence. The trio of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden (all 25 and under) were expected to contend for titles for the next decade.
About Jeff Koenig