Serge Ibaka

As a rookie, Westbrook averaged 15.3 points and 5.3 assists per game, but he shot below 40% from the field and just 27% from three, ultimately finishing fourth in Rookie of the Year voting.

But in the following 2010 season, both Russ and the Thunder improved, with Kevin Durant leading the NBA in scoring and the additions of two talented rookies, James Harden and Serge Ibaka, alongside Jeff Green scoring in Thabo Sefalosha's defense, the Thunder had the best young core in the NBA.

Russ was second on the team in scoring with 16.1 points per game and ranked fifth in the NBA in total assists, with eight dimes per game.

The Thunder notched 50 wins and made the playoffs for the first time in five years, playing against the defending champions, the LA Lakers, in the first round.

Following the playoffs, Russ underwent two surgeries to repair his knee, and he missed the opening two months of the season, which limited him to just 46 games in 2014.

But thanks to stellar play from KD, who was the league MVP, OKC won 59 games and finished second in the West.

Due to the offensive improvement of Serge Ibaka and the emergence of backup point guard Reggie Jackson, the Thunder were once again title contenders.

Still, the road to the finals was harder than ever in a tough Western Conference.

So by 22nd of November, that is Sunday, we'll be back to talk about more Champions League contests.

um keep repping the clubs you are repping i wore Ibaka jersey today i forgot to mention so hopefully we see some returns from Lamin Yamal or Cancelo if i bring in Ibaka defender um have a nice week ahead and may the arrows be green ciao bye for now see you next time

And then to get somebody like, when you're reporting stories like that, like Kevin was really good for this book and I'm really grateful for that.

Jeff Green and Serge Ibaka and some of those other guys were really good.

Love Serge.

When you report those type of books, I think the observations from people like Sean Livingston, who wasn't there for that long, but you know he was a phenom who came up in his career another

They had just paid Russell.

They had just paid Kendrick Perkins.

They had to pay Serge Ibaka.

And again, I alluded to it earlier, at that point in time in the Western Conference, you're running through a tree or a forest of bigs to try to get out of that conference.

Andrew, the top story this week was a veil of darkness descending upon the NBA, engulfing everything in its path.

In the span of seven days, Paulo Bencaro, Jaron Jackson Jr., Anthony Edwards, Kawhi Leonard, Tyrese Halliburton, and oh yeah, just added to the list, Ja Morant, all injured with several of those players expected to miss well over a month.

We also had likely season-ending injuries to OKC's Cason Wallace, who had a labral tear in his shoulder, and Jalen Williams, who dislocated his ankle and broke a bone in his leg.

To make matters worse, OKC also had injuries to Alex Crusoe and Chet Holmgren this week.

As OKC's title hopes begin to dim, who could potentially step up in the West to challenge the Spurs? Well, why not the Houston Rockets, who are one of two undefeated teams remaining in the league? The Rockets have won all five of their games, including one over the defending Western Conference champion Spurs last Friday night.

The 114-110 win ended in dramatic fashion when Amin Thompson blocked Victor Wiminyama at the rim, something very few players in the league could successfully pull off.

So sick.

Five games in and Houston is looking like a real contender sporting the number one offense in the league.