The Washington Wizards will have to find a way to turn around their poor start of the 2020-21 NBA season without their superstar point guard Russell Westbrook.
According to Wizards head coach Scott Brooks, Westbrook is dealing with a quadriceps injury and will be on the sidelines for at least one week. The 32-year-old All-Star initially got hurt during training camp and never fully recovered.
“It was starting to get better, and then he hit it again, set him back a little bit,” said Brooks. “And then the last time, it was in Philadelphia [on Wednesday], he hit it again.”
This is a tough blow for the Wizards, who had high hopes for 2020-21 but opened the season with a disappointing 2-8 record.
The news also comes after Washington starter Thomas Bryant also got injured for the season. Bryant suffered a torn ACL in a loss to Boston Celtics on Saturday.
The Wizards acquired Russell Westbrook in the offseason, trading guard John Wall and a protected first-round pick to the Houston Rockets in exchange. The franchise hoped that pairing Westbrook with their superstar Bradley Beal could finally put Washington in contention in the Eastern Conference.
However, Westbrook hasn’t been able to provide that so far despite being on the verge of averaging a triple-double. He’s played seven games in a Wizards’ jersey and contributed 19.3 points, 11.3 assists, and 9.7 rebounds per contest so far.
