Alan Anderson Injury: Updates on Wizards F's Recovery from Ankle Surgery

Alan Anderson's availability for the start of the regular season looks to be in doubt after the Washington Wizards forward had a second surgery on his left ankle.

Continue for updates.

---

No Date Set for Anderson's Return

Tuesday, Oct. 13

The Wizards announced Tuesday persistent pain in Anderson's ankle necessitated a surgical procedure, which Dr. David Porter completed earlier in the day. The statement added "Anderson will begin the rehab process immediately," although there's no timetable for his return.

This is the second surgery on Anderson's left ankle in five months. In May, doctors removed bone spurs from the ankle, and he was expected to get back to practice shape by July. Instead, the issue continued to dog him, so much so he needed to go under the knife.   

"What are we, 18 days, 19 days away?" Wizards head coach Randy Wittman posited to assembled press Saturday, per Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. "We got to get him well first. That’s first and foremost. Yeah, it’s getting to that point."

Maybe a second surgery will alleviate Anderson of his ankle pain for good.

While the Wizards won't be a demonstrably worse team to start the year if Anderson is out, Washington will certainly need his three-point shooting going forward as Wittman looks to rely more on a perimeter offense in 2015-16.

Anderson is a career 34.6 percent shooter from three-point range, and he has averaged 1.7 made threes per 36 minutes, which would've been fourth-highest on Washington last year.

In order to make a run at the Eastern Conference, the Wizards will need strong production from the top of their roster all the way to the bottom. The likes of John Wall, Bradley Beal and Marcin Gortat are vital to Washington's prospects this year, and role players like Anderson could have a big say on how deep the franchise goes in the playoffs.

Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com.