Celtics' Kemba Walker Says 'There's No Rush' to Return from Knee Injury
Kemba Walker isn't putting an exact timeline on his latest injury recovery. The Boston Celtics guard instead told reporters Wednesday his focus is on making sure he's entirely healthy and able to play at a high level before returning from a knee injury:
"There's no rush. There's no rush on my end. I'm coming back when I need to come back and when I'm feeling good to play. So that's it. This is, I haven't really been a guy who has been hurt over the course of my career. So this sucks, but I also love the game of basketball and I want to play at a high level in front of the fans who come to watch this game.
"I want to be at my best. The last time in the playoffs, I wasn't at my best, and that sucked. I don't want to be that way no more."
Walker received a stem cell injection in his left knee on Tuesday with Boston ruling him out until at least January—temporarily leaving the franchise without the guard who averaged 20.4 points and 4.8 assists per game last year.
According to Celtics general manager Danny Ainge, Walker visited with multiple specialists over the last two months and received a consensus opinion on the best course of action on a joint that bothered him for stretches of the 2019-20 season.
The guard was placed on a minutes restriction during the NBA's restart in Florida, leaving Ainge to wonder if the team took the correct course of action as Boston was eliminated by the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals.
"Maybe we didn't do him justice by bringing him back too fast into the bubble, being hurt and finding some urgency to get him ready during the regular season," Ainge said. "We don't want to make that mistake, if it even was a mistake, this time. I'm not blaming anybody. It's not a perfect science. It's guesswork, and we're trying to do the best with the information that we have and get him as strong and healthy as he can be, so he's ready to make it through the year."
The Celtics said they will not have any further updates on Walker's status until the first week of January—after the season has already begun.
Walker, for his part, seems on board with the latest decisions and is going to use the time off the court to his advantage.
"I haven't had much of a break since I signed here," Walker said. "So I think it'll be nice for me, to tell you the truth."
