Kevin Durant talks about surgery, Westbrook, riding a scooter & coming back in December

Players in this post:
Russell Westbrook Kevin Durant

Via ESPN

"It's definitely a different experience for me," Durant said Tuesday. "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."

"I feel like Nick Saban, just rolling around in my scooter from court to court giving advice and trying to help out as much as I can," he said. "I'm looking at the positive side of it. It's a win-win, basically, because I'm learning a lot while I'm out about the game, and my teammates are getting lots of opportunities because there are a lot of minutes out there to help the team."

ON WESTBROOK

"Nothing has to change," Durant said of Westbrook. "Just stay who he is and continue to play the way he plays, and everybody is going to follow. He's going to do a great job. I'm not worried about Russ.

"[He] may get more opportunities now, but you don't have to change what you do. He knows that. He's a smart player. He knows we all have to do it as a team, and it's going to be fun. I'm excited to see the team play."

ON HIS RETURN

"I'm not going to rush it all. That's the one thing I don't want to do," he said. "I'm sure I'll feel better in two or three weeks, but definitely don't want to rush it and wind up hurting it even more. I'm taking my time with it. I'm just blessed it happened early in the season where I can get past it, and hopefully by December I'll be ready to play."

"I've been antsy since I came out of surgery. I seen that Cleveland and Chicago game last night, and I wanted to get out there and play," he said. "But as a competitor, I just love to play basketball. That's all I've been doing, and injuries have never had me out this long, but it's part of the game, and I understand that."

kd-mcgary