Kevin Durant’s injury a game-changer in NBA Western Conference

The NBA was knocked for a loop with the news the league’s most valuable player, Kevin Durant, suffered a broken foot, the first major injury of his seven-year career.

Durant had surgery Oct. 16 for a “Jones” fracture — a broken bone at the base of his small toe on his right foot — and the Oklahoma City Thunder announced its All-Star forward could be out six to eight weeks.

Before his injury, the Thunder had been considered one of the favorites, along with Cleveland, Chicago and San Antonio, to win the NBA championship this season.

But the door has opened a bit in the super-competitive Western Conference, in which 10 teams could be pushing for a playoff spot. And the elite teams, such as the defending NBA champion Spurs, the Clippers and Golden State Warriors, are probably hoping to open a big enough lead in the standings before Durant returns to prevent the Thunder from securing home-court advantage in the West.

Certainly the Thunder will miss Durant’s league-leading 32 points per game and his 7.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists from last season. Russell Westbrook will be the leader for the Thunder while Durant recuperates.

That doesn’t mean Westbrook, who averaged 21.8 points on 17.2 shots per game last season, should just start shooting at will; it means the talented and athletic point guard should be more of an all-around player in Durant’s absence.

Regardless of how long Durant is sidelined, though, many oddsmakers say the old-school Spurs are the team to beat in the West.

San Antonio still has Gregg Popovich, considered by many as the best coach in the NBA, and under him it runs perhaps the most efficient offense in the league.

It still has the Big Three of Tim Duncan (38 years old), Manu Ginobili (37), and Tony Parker (32) and a rising talent in small forward Kawhi Leonard (23), the MVP of the NBA Finals.

The biggest change for the Clippers in the off-season was at the ownership level, as former owner Donald Sterling was forced to sell his team after he made racially insensitive remarks. Former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer bought the Clippers for $2 billion, taking over a very good team with Coach Doc Rivers, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan that will also contend for the top spot in the West.

Meanwhile, the Lakers can’t stay healthy, dimming any slim chance they had at reaching the playoffs.

Nick Young, pegged to be the team’s sixth man, had surgery on his right thumb during training camp and will be out eight weeks. Forty-year-old Steve Nash continues to suffer from back problems, and on Thursday the two-time MVP said he would sit out the entire season.

Kobe Bryant sat out 76 games last season recovering from left Achilles’ tendon surgery and a fractured left knee but is now healthy. As always, the Lakers will depend heavily on Bryant, who at 36 is one of the league’s elder statesmen.