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Tim BontempsESPN
BOSTON – Celtics All-Star guard Kemba Walker was released for training, the team announced on Friday, and coach Brad Stevens said Walker’s troubled left knee had been in pain for “more than a month”.
Walker’s left knee has been a constant problem for Boston, returning for a year, until January 2020. In the weeks leading up to last year’s All-Star Game, he was dealing with intermittent knee discomfort. So, after playing many minutes at the mid-season showcase in Chicago, he fought before the league ended in March over COVID-19.
Then, when the teams resumed training in late June, Walker said he felt more knee discomfort, prompting the Celtics to put him on a strict minute limit during team selection games inside the NBA bubble at Walt Disney. World Resort in Orlando, Florida. .
After a post-season of ups and downs, with Walker initially looking great against the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round before facing more fights against the Toronto Raptors and then the Miami Heat, he and the team agreed that he would play 12 Weekly strengthening program to try to improve the long-term conditions of that left knee in early October, in addition to giving an injection to the knee.
Last month, the team said there would be an update on Walker’s status during the first week of January. Now that there is one, the question will now shift to when Walker is ready to make his season debut.
Stevens said he credited Walker for his willingness to take the time to hit his knee instead of gutting him and playing at a level below what he is capable of. Walker earned a reputation as someone willing to play despite injuries, rarely missing out during his first eight years in the league with the Charlotte Hornets.
“Credit to Kemba for saying, ‘I have to make this stronger, and I have to make sure that it is ready to spend a season and, if we’re lucky, a postseason,'” said Stevens. “But he and [strength coach Jace Delaney] I did a good job putting together an attack plan, along with Phil Coles, and I hope he comes back soon.
“But we are not going to rush this. We will see how the practice goes and everything else.”
In the meantime, Boston will have to deal with a significantly reduced attack court rotation after pivot Robert Williams III tested positive for COVID-19, and his teammates Grant Williams and Tristan Thompson were dropped due to contact tracking in the health and safety protocols. alloy safety.
That leaves Boston with only two great men available on its list: titleholder Daniel Theis and Tacko Fall, who have a two-way deal.
“Well, obviously, we will be limited by the number of players that can play there. Basically, we will have two great players in our squad for the next games,” said Stevens. “It is what it is. I think the biggest concern for me is that when we’re playing small at times, it’s terribly small. And that’s the challenge, right? We have to make sure that we mix and match as well as we can. keep the maximum depth of our wings on the ground, at least a couple of our wings on the ground, whenever we can. “
Boston will, however, have veteran point guard Jeff Teague back, having lost the last two games with a sprained ankle, as well as point guard Javonte Green, who missed Boston’s four-game trip by being placed in the protocols health and safety.
Stevens said that while the team’s depth is obviously being hindered by protocols at the moment, he trusts what the league is doing and how it is dealing with the virus.
“The NBA goes through an incredibly detailed program whenever there is concern,” said Stevens. “They basically relived the last few days, their time together. And I know they do that with all the teams. It is a long and arduous task for our people who are in charge of all our protocols and follow all protocols and for everyone the people in the league. These people are investing a lot of time and effort and are the experts. I listen to them and they tell me what we can and cannot do.
Scott Brooks, who echoed Stevens’ belief in the league to handle things right, added that Russell Westbrook, who dislocated a finger from his right hand at the end of Washington’s defeat in Philadelphia on Wednesday, is “ready to go.” “against the Celtics.