Injuries are an unfortunate part of sports. My heart goes out to last years NBA MVP Kevin Durant. I hope he has a speedy full recovery.
With that said injuries present opportunities for teammates to step up.
Russell Westbrook eyeing the MVP trophy his teammate Kevin Durant won last year. This is his opportunity.
I recently questioned whether or not Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant can play together. With a foot injury that will sideline Kevin Durant 6-8 weeks my new question is can Russell Westbrook be the leader Oklahoma City needs him to be while KD is out.
Westbrook is one of the most explosive, athletically gifted players the NBA has ever seen.
He has the potential to be the best player in the league. Although he still has room for improvement offensively, there is not a player in the league that can stop him from getting to the basket. He plays both sides of the ball(offense and defense), he is a competitor, and he plays with a lot of passion.
I question Russell Westbrooks ability to play point guard though. Right now Westbrook is a two guard playing the one.
He will have to adjust his game. Obviously a large part of his role will be to score, but he has to learn when to score. He has to improve his ability to dictate the tempo of the game and make his teammates better.
At times Westbrook shows glimpses of MVP type play, and then there are times when he looks like an extremely selfish player that could care less about winning.
Hopefully he can figure out how to win games as a great point guard, and establish himself as a MVP candidate while Kevin Durant is out.