Many anticipated that the Oklahoma City Thunder were one of the favorites to come out of the western conference. But during a preseason game against the Memphis Grizzlies the 2014 MVP and Thunder superstar Kevin Durant suffered a “Jonas fracture” a broken bone at the base of the small toe Durant is expected to miss 6-8 weeks of the beginning of the regular season. However The Oklahoma City star is not the only player on the roster suffering from injury. Along with Kevin Durant, Anthony Morrow is out with a sprained MCL during a practice session, Andre Roberson who has a sprained foot, Jeremy Lamb who was labeled Day to Day with a lower back sprain and returned to action last week, Mitch McGary who is out with a foot injury, Grant Jerrett out with a sprained ankle. Kevin Durant sat in a press conference and talked about his injury he said “It’s definitely a different experience for me, “I’ve never been injured before, but the Thunder’s been great to get me to the best surgeon, and rehab has been going well so far. Everything is progressing, and I’m looking forward to these next few weeks of getting better.”

As if things couldn’t get any worse for the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Thunder had to go into LA to play the Clippers for the second game of the season with an 8 man rotation because of all the injuries the team is facing. Then during the second quarter Russell Westbrook had only 2 points and four assist. Westbrook went up for a rebound and after he was slowing gripping his hand he left midway through the second quarter, he was escorted to the locker room the Thunder went on to lose against the Clippers Westbrook did not return to the game. But he did return to the bench with his hand wrapped in ice. After the game Coach Scott Brooks said Russell Westbrook has a small fracture in his right hand, Russell Westbrook is expect to be out for 4-6 weeks. Russell underwent surgery on his right hand two days prior to the Clippers game. Scott Brooks was asked what would happen if both Thunder stars Durant and Westbrook will be out for extended periods of time. “I don’t want to start thinking about that yet,” he said. “I’ll think about that tonight as I leave the arena. It’s unfortunate the way it is right now, but we have to figure out how to get better from all of our experiences,” Brooks said. “Good teams and good players bounce back from adversity, and our guys understand that.”

With Thunder struggling with the injury bug to both of their best players and also most of their role players from the bench, some say the Thunder are projected to win less than 50 games even when Durant and Westbrook return later in the season. In a very tough western conference that can be a true statement with the season just beginning and only a 7 man rotation, how will the Thunder play without their two biggest players? That question is still yet to be answered.