The Los Angeles Lakers made an extremely bold move in the 2021 offseason by trading for Russell Westbrook. While the team traded replaceable rotation players, Westbrook’s contract as well as his history of coming up short in the playoffs made it an interesting move. The fit with LeBron James and Anthony Davis was questionable as well.
If the Lakers are going to make a run at the NBA Championship then they are going to need Westbrook to change his style of play and play efficient basketball. Not only that, but the team is going to need him to stay healthy.
The Los Angeles Lakers fell short in the 2021 NBA Playoffs because of injuries and the same cannot happen again. Luckily for Laker fans, Russell Westbrook’s injury history is not as extensive as Anthony Davis’ injury history.
Russell Westbrook injury history:
Russell Westbrook quad injury, 2020/21 season
Russell Westbrook dealt with a lingering quad injury in his lone season with the Washington Wizards. Westbrook did not miss much time with the quad injury but it definitely it impact his play as the first half of the 2020-21 season was not kind to Westbrook.
Westbrook did miss a handful of games here or there as rest but that is typical in the modern-day NBA. He only missed consecutive games one time while dealing with the injury, sitting out two straight games on January 9 and 11.
Russell Westbrook thumb injury, February 2020
Russell Westbrook dealt with a minor thumb injury with the Houston Rockets in February of 2020. Westbrook did not miss extended time with the injury and did not even sit out consecutive games because of the injury. He did, however, sit out of two games with his thumb bothering him.
It was as minor as minor can be but he did miss some time with the injury so it is worth mentioning in his injury history.
Russell Westbrook ankle sprain, November 2018
While still with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Westbrook sprained his ankle in a game against Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans on November 5. This resulted in Westbrook missing the next six games for the Thunder, who ironically went 5-1 in the stretch without him.
Westbrook returned to action on November 19 and played 35 minutes, putting his time out of action at exactly two weeks.
Russell Westbrook knee inflammation, September 2018
Westbrook has surgery on his knee to take care of inflammation before the 2018-19 season that resulted in the former MVP missing the entire preseason and the first two games of the regular season. He made his 2018-19 debut on October 21.
Russell Westbrook hand fracture, November 2014
In just the second game of the 2014-2015 season, Westbrook suffered a hand fracture against the Los Angeles Clippers. Still Kevin Durant’s teammate at the time, Westbrook wound up missing a decent chunk of time to begin the season alongside Durant.
Westbrook wound up missing 14 games in total and returned to action by playing 23 minutes on November 28. All in all, Westbrook missed just under a month of game action with the Thunder but stayed healthy the rest of the year.
Russell Westbrook right knee surgery, December 2013
In December of 2013, Westbrook was forced to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. This resulted in a big chunk of missed time for Westbrook, who missed a third of the season by sitting out for 27 games.
Westbrook’s last game played before the surgery was on Christmas and he did not return until after Valentine’s Day on February 20.
Russell Westbrook Meniscus tear, April 2013
Russell Westbrook was knocked out of the playoffs early in 2013 in a series against his former (and future) teammate, James Harden. Westbrook suffered the injury in Game 2 of the first round and wound up missing the rest of the playoffs as a result.
This was a huge injury for the Thunder as they went on to lose to the Memphis Grizzlies in five games the next round as the top seed in the conference.