When the Boston Celtics first traded for Kristaps Porzingis last summer, he was elated to be a part of the organization. He sat down at the podium for his introductory press conference with a huge grin across his face. The Latvian big man was beaming. One year later, he’s an NBA Champion. But there are more challenges in front of him.
During the NBA Finals, right after coming back from a calf strain that held him out for over two rounds of the postseason, he suffered a torn medial retinaculum. The big man got surgery this summer to fix the ailment, and since then, he’s been working through his recovery process.
And apparently, it’s going very well.
Kristaps Porzingis says he’s already been running on his injured ankle
During Celtics Media Day, Porzingis revealed that he’s been making significant progress. He said that he’s already been walking on the ankle without any assistance, and he even ran on it the other day. Plus, he did some light contact that went well.
“Walking, obviously, with nothing [on it],” Porzingis said. “I’m running. I’m on the court. Shooting normal. I’m doing a lot of stuff, honestly. I’m already kind of [doing] some live contact, doing some stuff, also. And, yeah, felt really good afterward. So, I think it’s a really good sign that we had from the other day. And again, I’m optimistic, as always.”
Porzingis followed up, noting that his light contact work was done over the past weekend.
Considering how unique and unheard Porzingis’ injury in the Final was, to hear that he’s been doing real work on the ankle as of late is a great sign.
He told Ramona Shelbourne of ESPN that he hopes to be back on the court by December, meaning the Celtics will have to deal with a few months without the big man.
In his wake, Al Horford will almost certainly maintain his spot in the starting lineup. On top of that, Luke Kornet, Xavier Tillman, and Neemias Queta—all of whom re-signed with Boston this summer—will have to step up as well.
That said, Porzingis seems very confident in his ability to get back on the court as soon as possible, even if the team wants to be as careful as they can be with his injury rehab.
Based on his recent Instagram posts and comments at Media Day, Porzingis’ recovery process seems to be chugging along swimmingly. And that’s great news for the Celtics.
