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Tim BontempsESPN
BOSTON – Cembics All-Star point guard Kemba Walker has been released for training, the team announced on Friday, and coach Brad Stevens says Walker’s troublesome left knee has been painless for more than a month.
Walker’s left knee was an ongoing issue for Boston to go back a calendar year to January 2020. In the weeks leading up to last year’s All-Star Game, he had to deal with knee discomfort anew. Then, after playing heavy minutes in the mid-season showcase in Chicago, he struggled ahead of the league closing in March due to COVID-19.
When teams resumed training at the end of June, Walker said he had a further discomfort in his knee, which led the Celtics to limit him to a strict minute limit during the team’s seed games in the NBA’s bubble. at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. .
After an up-and-down season, while Walker initially looked good in the first round against the Philadelphia 76ers before struggling more against the Toronto Raptors and then the Miami Heat, he and the team agreed to put him on a 12-week strengthening program to try and improve the long-term condition of that left knee in early October, as well as to inject him into 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 will be ready to make his seasoned debut.
Stevens said he acknowledges Walker for his willingness to take the time to straighten his knee, rather than clear it out and play a level rather than what he can. Walker has earned a reputation as someone willing to play through injuries, and rarely pitched during his first eight years in the league with the Charlotte Hornets.
“I honor Kemba for saying, ‘I need to make this thing stronger, and I need to make sure it’s ready to go through a season and then, if we’m lucky, a post-season,’ ‘ “Stevens said. ‘But he and [strength coach Jace Delaney] did a fine job of drawing up a plan of attack with Phil Coles, and then he’s hopefully back soon.
“But we’re not going to rush like that. We’ll see how it goes and all the other stuff. ‘
Meanwhile, Boston will have to deal with a significantly exhausted front-runner rotation after center Robert Williams III tested positive for COVID-19, and teammates Grant Williams and Tristan Thompson were excluded due to contact detection under the league’s health and safety protocols. .
That leaves Boston with only two available big men on their rankings: starter Daniel Theis, and Tacko Fall, who has a two-way contract.
“Well, of course, we’re going to be limited by the amount of guys who can play that place. We’ll basically have two tops on our roster for the next few games,” Stevens said. “That’s what it is. I think the biggest concern for me is that if we play small sometimes, it’s terribly small. And that’s the challenge, right? We have to make sure we mix and match as well as we can. to keep as much of our wing depth on the floor as possible, at least some of our wings on the floor. ‘
However, Boston will have veteran point guard Jeff Jeffue back after missing the last two games with a sprained ankle, as well as guard Javonte Green, who missed Boston’s four-time drive because he was placed in the health and safety records. .
Stevens said that although the depth of the team is obviously getting a hit due to the protocols at the moment, he trusts what the league is doing and how it is handling the virus.
“The NBA goes through an incredibly detailed program when there is any concern,” Stevens said. “They’ve basically relived the last few days, your time together. And I know they do it with every team. It’s a long, arduous task for our people who are responsible for all our protocols and all the protocols follow and for all the people at the league.These people put in a lot of time and effort and they are the experts.I listen to them and they tell me what we can and what not.
Scott Brooks, who reflects Stevens ‘belief in the league to handle things the right way, added that Russell Westbrook, who dislocated a finger in his right hand late in Washington’s loss to Philadelphia on Wednesday,’ is good to go ‘against the Celtics.