Kemba Walker‘s left knee is feeling better, but the Celtics guard won’t know how it’s going to respond to competition until he gets to test it against someone, writes A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston. Walker has gotten plenty of time to rest since the league shut down three weeks ago.
“The knee is doing well,” he said. “It’s difficult because I don’t have anyone around to give me treatments or anything like that. I have to do my own stuff, which I’m trying to do as much as possible; try to stay on top of things.”
Walker developed swelling in the knee during the All-Star break. He had it drained, then received a shot of Synvisc to ease the soreness and minimize swelling. He’s waiting out the hiatus like everyone else and hoping for a chance to try out the knee under game conditions.
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Now that Celtics guard Marcus Smart has recovered from the coronavirus, he will donate blood in hopes that it will help to find a treatment for COVID-19, according to ESPN. Three other players who tested positive for the virus also plan to make blood donations, but they haven’t been identified. The league office reached out to team doctors over the weekend to encourage players who tested positive to give blood samples to the National COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Project.
- Joel Embiid‘s response to a plan by Sixers majority owner Josh Harris to reduce some employees’ salaries while the league is shut down raises questions about his long-term future with the team, suggests Bob Ford of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Harris changed his mind about the pay cuts, but not before Embiid made a public offer to help everyone who would have been affected. Ford claims Embiid’s relationship with the organization has always been “fractious” and states that embarrassing the owner may lead to an eventual parting.
- In a conference call with reporters, Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri said potential extensions for himself and coach Nick Nurse won’t be discussed while the league is on hiatus (Twitter link from Eric Koreen of The Athletic). The team is currently paused with no talk of extensions or contracts for anyone, adds Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports (Twitter link). “It’s not where our minds are at right now,” Ujiri said. “This is a crucial time for the world. Those things will come.”
That Ford article linked about Embiid is great. Joel has so many tools to be a great legend of the league but has often missed the mark when trying to make good decisions while acting on his impulses, leading to him being called immature. In this case he smacked an exquisite home run of legendary acts for a public figure.
He makes himself known like this more often and he will get his legendary status.
Oh boy! If Philly is gonna trade Embiid, it will be the biggest disaster in franchise history… they better get a haul at least like the one NOP got for AD. I mean you just cannot trade one of the best centers ever, no way!
Is it possible to trade the owner instead, the are a dozen a dime unlike Embiid that is one of a kind!
One of the best centers ever?
Harris deserved to be embarrassed. What a horrible selfish billionaire showing his real colors during a pandemic. No shame when you do this during a pandemic. No mistaking it, the guy is garbage. Sure, he changed his mind after being shamed by EVERYONE! Please sell the team and go away!