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Russell Westbrook made headlines for the wrong reasons during the Washington Wizards' Game 3 loss against the Philadelphia 76ers.
The 9-time All-Star was involved in fan-related incident on Wednesday night, when a member of the Sixers crowd poured his bucket of popcorn at the Wizards point guard. But overshadowed by the fiasco was the actual reason why Westbrook was headed to the locker room in the first place. Russ had injured his ankle during Game 2 and went back to seek medical attention.
With two days off, Washington was able to hold a rare practice session. But head coach Scott Brooks revealed that the Brodie wasn't in attendance while tending to his ankle, via Wizards beat reporter for The Athletic, Fred Katz.
Russell Westbrook did not practice today, Scott Brooks says. Westbrook got treatment on his ankle. “We’ll see how he feels tomorrow,” Brooks said.
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) May 28, 2021
Hours later, Westbrook was placed under a “questionable” tag for Game 3 against the Sixers.
Russell Westbrook (ankle) is QUESTIONABLE for tomorrow’s game against the 76ers, the Wizards say.
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) May 28, 2021
Knowing the kind of player Russell Westbrook is, you just know if there's even a sliver of a chance to take the court, he'd be taking it. The Wizards of course don't want to rush their star guard if he isn't fully healthy. The dreaded ankle injury has been a big story in these playoffs. Both Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and Utah Jazz frontman Donovan Mitchell are continuing to deal with lingering effects of their own ankle injuries.
The Wizards definitely need a healthy Russell Westbrook to scrape out a win against Joel Embiid and the Sixers. But the emphasis should be on “healthy” when making the final decision.