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Not to sound cliche’, but the Houston Rockets are ready for liftoff. According to multiple sources, All-Star guard Russell Westbrook, whose arrival in the Orlando bubble was delayed due to a positive COVID-19 test, has finally arrived in Florida, ready to join the team.
Russ was scheduled to arrive on Monday evening and possibly be ready to practice with the team on Wednesday, provided he clears arrival quarantine.
The #Rockets will not practice today. They will return to practice Wednesday, with the possibility that Russell Westbrook has cleared quarantine to join them.
— Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) July 21, 2020
The Rockets are also scheduled for their first scrimmage on Friday, however, Houston head coach Mike D’Antoni doesn’t expect Westbrook to play, telling ESPN:
“I do expect that once he clears everything that he’ll be ready to go 5-on-5 and all that. I would think Friday might be a little early. That’ll be up to the medical staff and Russell himself and see how he feels in the days before. Hopefully, he’ll get in a couple of scrimmages and then be ready for us to play.”
With Westbrook’s arrival, the Rockets are almost at full-strength. At one point, they were waiting on Russ, James Harden, and newly signed Luc Mbah a Moute. Harden arrived last week, while the team still waits on Luc. There are currently no updates on his status, but we’ll post on it as soon as there are.
In the meantime, The Beard is here. Brodie is here. And the Rockets are ready to rock in the Orlando bubble.