Boston Celtics guard Kemba Walker out until January with knee injury
Kemba Walker averaged 20.4 points, 4.8 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game last season as the Boston Celtics reached the Eastern Conference Finals.
Wednesday 2 December 2020 10:59, UK
Boston Celtics guard Kemba Walker won't be available until the first week of January at the earliest due to a left knee injury.
The Celtics said on Tuesday that Walker received a stem cell injection after visits with multiple specialists in October, from which he was put on a 12-week strengthening programme.
Walker is expected to resume on-court activities in early December, before the team updates his availability for games in early January.
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The 30-year-old is entering the second year of a four-year deal with the Celtics having averaged 19.6 points per game in the playoffs earlier this summer.
Team president Danny Ainge said it was clear Walker was not himself due to the knee injury, and pointed to the season ahead when asked if there were any long-term concerns over the player.
"I think this year will tell us a lot," Ainge said.
While Walker wouldn't blame his three-time surgically repaired left knee for his play, Ainge and head coach Brad Stevens said it was hampering him throughout the two-and-a-half months the team spent at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando.
"I could see, even when he was (in Boston) before the bubble started, which is why he was shut down a little bit and doing strength training and trying to prepare himself for the playoff run and the intensity of the playoff run, but he was definitely not himself," Ainge said during a season wrap-up conference call.
"In fairness to Kemba, he doesn't want to say that. He doesn't say that to our coaches. He doesn't say that to you, the media. He doesn't say that to me.
"I haven't heard one excuse from him. But watching the games, even the games we won, even the games where he played well, I could tell he wasn't the same physically as he was in October, November, December. So we're going to try to get that Kemba back."
Walker, a four-time All-Star averaged 20.4 points, 4.8 assists and 3.9 rebounds last season after spending the previous eight seasons in Charlotte.
He first mentioned knee soreness to the Celtics before the All-Star Game in February, at which point he had the knee drained of fluid and received an injection of Synvisc.
The Celtics also confirmed Tuesday that guard Romeo Langford will miss the start of the season as he continues to rehab from surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right wrist. He underwent the procedure on September 22, with a recovery time of four to five months.
The No. 14 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, Langford averaged 2.5 points and 11.6 minutes per game over 32 games as a rookie.
