Robert Williams is a ‘full go,’ Kemba Walker might be limited in seeding games for Boston Celtics in restart

Robert Williams is a ‘full go,’ Kemba Walker might be limited in seeding games for Boston Celtics in restart

Updated Jul 11, 2020; Posted Jul 11, 2020

By Tom Westerholm | twesterh@masslive.com
Boston Celtics big man Robert Williams has had a series of injuries that limited his time on the court this season.

At various times, Williams has struggled with knee and hip issues, as well as back problems that limited him shortly before the NBA shut down for what will be more than four months for the coronavirus pandemic.

Now, according to Celtics coach Brad Stevens, the young big man is fully healthy (along with most of the team). Stevens was asked about both Williams and Kemba Walker on Saturday, speaking to the media via a Zoom call.

“Rob is a full go,” Stevens said. “Kemba is more of a deal that we want to utilize this time while we have everybody together and while we’re in these spaces to strengthen his knee. The biggest thing that we don’t want to do is go through a typical training camp, which is usually a ramp-up session for most people, to get to where they need to be, for him we need to make it a ramp-up sessions so he doesn’t have setbacks once we start playing. He will start playing under limited minutes, most likely. Who knows what that means, but the goal is not to be limited once the playoffs come around. But certainly I think it’s very reasonable to expect early on, scrimmages, and at least in the first week or so of seeding games, that he’ll be limited.”

Walker’s status is a little concerning for Boston, but the Celtics have made it clear they plan to try to keep Walker healthy as the league attempts to restart its season.

Walker said the break was important as he tries to rehab from knee soreness that limited him all year.

“It was super important for me,” Walker said. “I really, really needed to get that break. It definitely helped me get back to myself and start to feel comfortable on my knee. It was a very unfortunate time, but it was in my best interests for sure. So I’m pretty comfortable with the way the schedule is and I’m just going to keep on taking care of myself. That’s really all I can do, so I’m just going to stay on top of things and take it day by day.”

Make no mistake about it, this is Williams' best opportunity to show he's the big-man of the future in Boston.

NYCelt

RW III has an opportunity to carve out some rotation minutes. I read that he has been working hard.

The Kemba Walker situation is somewhat concerning. I think we will see a heavy dose of Marcus Smart at the point along with significant backup minutes from Wannamaker. Brad will probably put Walker on a minutes restriction.

gyso wrote:Has anyone read about surgery for Kemba Walker?  I imagine that his ongoing knee issue is going to have to be dealt with at some point.

gyso

Funny you should mention that as I had similar thoughts.   I am not sure how the knee got injured but the article I posted below indicates that he has had at least 3 procedures prior to joining the Celtics.   He had surgery to repair a lateral meniscus tear as well as two additional arthroscopic procedures.  Sounds like most the the meniscus has been removed.

They previously said that there is no structural damage and right now they are working with him to strengthen the knee.

Here is an old piece on this

"Walker has previously had knee discomfort despite showing no structural issues while with the Charlotte Hornets, and had to have it drained as recently as 2016."

see this article as well

https://www.bostonsportsjournal.com/2020/02/26/dr-flynn-whats-going-kemba-walkers-sore-knee/

Kemba Walker missed his third straight game on Tuesday night with soreness in his left knee after having the knee drained and injected with Synvisc last week.

The Celtics' guard, who has been slowed by knee soreness for much of the season, experienced increased swelling and discomfort in the knee after returning from All-Star weekend. Brad Stevens told reporters recently the sudden increase in swelling after the All-Star Game was unexpected and indicated that the swelling was much more than he had been dealing with all season.

“The difference between how his knee presented on Wednesday (and) how it presented throughout his period of soreness that we had sat him with, was he just had a lot more swelling," he said. "Obviously, that was an indicator that we needed to check it. He had another scan. Knee looks good structurally. But he’s going to be managing it and dealing with it, as he has all year.”

Let me make some sense of all of this for you because I have seen a lot of inaccurate information about what Synvisc is and what this means for the Celtics guard going forward.

Walker has dealt with left knee issues for much of his professional career. His first reported left knee surgery was in January 2015 for a lateral meniscus tear. His second reported surgery was in May 2016 and it was another arthroscopic surgery (“scope”) to trim more lateral meniscus. A third surgery in May 2017 was reportedly another “minor arthroscopic procedure.”

With a history of three surgeries on the knee, at least two of them to address lateral meniscus tearing, it is very common to have focal arthritis in that part of the knee. In order to address the meniscus tears, surgeons had to remove part of the meniscus … potentially three times. That makes the remaining meniscus much smaller, brings the joint surfaces closer together and messes with the mechanics of the joint, causing the articular cartilage that coats the bones to thin. Localized knee arthritis is common in the NBA and is often an injury that athletes are able to manage and play through.

Commonly, when a professional athlete with chronic meniscus tears and articular cartilage injury has an acute flare-up with pain and swelling, an early consideration for treatment is a steroid injection. Steroid injections are the most effective and quick way to reduce swelling and discomfort, but they also carry a risk. The medicine that we inject with the steroid is somewhat toxic to the cartilage cells, so it is commonly thought that repetitive injections can actually make arthritis progress more quickly.

Kemba did not have a steroid injection last week, though. He had an injection of Synvisc, which is a brand of hyaluronic acid (HA) injected to treat symptoms of mild to moderate arthritis. HA is something that is found naturally in joints with healthy cartilage. Arthritic joints have lower concentrations of HA.

Simply put, HA injections are meant to supplement HA back into the joint to try to make the surviving cartilage more healthy. Synvisc does seem to have some anti-inflammatory effects, but it is not a slam-dunk way to reduce pain and inflammation within a few days in the way that we think of steroid injections. In fact, it usually takes about 4-6 weeks to get a maximum effect from HA injections. Kemba most likely had a Synvisc injection instead of a steroid shot either because he had recently had a steroid injection and it was too soon for another one or because doctors decided that the risk of steroid injection was not worth the benefit due to Kemba’s age and injury.

The fact that Kemba had a Synvisc injection likely means that he has some arthritis in his left knee. However, the fact that Kemba had a Synvisc injection does not mean that he needs a knee replacement today, tomorrow, or next year. While we sometimes do use Synvisc to treat advanced arthritis pain in patients who are delaying joint replacement surgery, the medication is thought to be most beneficial for knees with minimal to moderate arthritis. Contrary to what you are hearing on the radio and reading online, Synvisc injection does not mean imminent joint replacement!

In the short-term, I anticipate that the Celtics will take it slow with Kemba’s return in order to allow the knee to fully calm down and get him healthy for the postseason. My best guess is that he will return to game play after 1-2 weeks of rest if all continues to go well for him.

Long-term, I look at an injury like this as something that Kemba Walker will continue to manage throughout his career. He may have flare-ups from time to time. As arthritis gets worse, the flare-ups could become more common, but every athlete and every knee is different. If the knee ever flares up and does not respond to conservative treatment then surgery could be a possibility down the road, but there is no sign that that is a concern currently.

__________________

Dr. Jessica Flynn is a sports medicine physician at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington, MA. She writes about injuries in professional sports on her blog, DocFlynn.com. You can follow her on Twitter @jessdeede.

Boston Has Added a Healthy 'Freak of Nature' to Its Roster
By Marc D'Amico |  @Marc_DAmico
Celtics.com
July 12, 2020

BOSTON – According to Marcus Smart, the Boston Celtics have added a certified freak of nature to their lineup for the NBA’s restart down in Orlando.

His name is Rob Williams.

“No offense to the other guys on our team,” Smart said Sunday afternoon, “but Rob is a different type of freak of nature when it comes to athleticism and ability to go and change shots at the rim.”

And according to those who have seen him in the gym, Williams has been reminding everyone of those facts during practices in Florida.

The 22-year-old big man has fully recovered from the left hip edema injury that plagued him all season and he is now making noise in the gym. Williams has been doing all of the things the Celtics are accustomed to seeing from him when healthy, but at an even higher level due to improved basketball maturity.

“The game has definitely slowed down for him,” said Smart. “You can tell, just seeing him, he looks ready and healthy to me.

“I mean, the dude’s head is still jumping at the rim, still there. He’s still catching crazy lobs and protecting the rim and moving his feet very well.”

Added head coach Brad Stevens, “He looks like an older player now, finishing off his second year but basically entering his third.”

Not only does Williams look the part of a more mature player, but he feels like he’s in a different place physically.

“I actually feel like I got a little bit quicker, a little bit faster,” he said. “Being out those three and a half months, it gave my body time to heal. Got some good treatment, good work in. Ready to prove it on the court.”

Williams has not had much of a chance to prove anything yet this season. He has only appeared in 23 games and never played more than 23 minutes in a contest this season due to the hip injury.

He returned from a three-month absence to appear in Boston’s final four games before the hiatus, but realistically, the team just hasn’t had a chance to fully integrate him into the lineup.

That’s now going to change thanks to his full bill of health.

The question that now needs to be answered is, how will a healthy Williams impact the Celtics on a nightly basis? While the answer is to be determined, members of the Celtics believe that he will make them a more formidable team on the court.

Said Smart, “The defense can go up another level. We’ve got somebody back there that can protect the rim … So that allows us to pick up our pressure a little bit as guards, and really, really, really give the opposing team problems.”

Additionally, Williams’ length, athleticism and ability to roll to the basket will offer the Celtics added flexibility when it comes to five-man lineups.

“We’re going to play around all our skilled wings and guards,” Stevens said, “and we’re going to need some interchangeability at the five-spot.”

Boston had some of that this season, with Daniel Theis serving as the more athletic defender and rim-runner, and Enes Kanter serving as the bigger body and more dominant rebounder. Adding a freak of nature to that rotation – one who can fly above the rim at both ends of the court – will only make them a more dangerous opponent.

cowens/oldschool wrote:Robert Williams has such out of this world athleticism, he is easily the X factor or whatever you want to call a player that can make great impact if he can just stay healthy and stay on the floor. We can be a historic defense if he can really stay on the floor and he can be the best version of himself.

RW is only 22 years old. Injuries have stunted his development. Yet he remains one of the most intriguing young guys on the roster. As you stated he needs to stay on the floor by continuing to work on his body and his game. If he is really ready, he could make this team quite formidable by adding an element of athleticism to our front line.

For him it is all about staying healthy.

If we have the Big Big 3 all healthy, I have to agree with the article...look out!!  I like Marcus' take about defense as well.  This could be the nudge/break we are going to need to make it to the Finals.  

I'm not afraid of Philly in the 1st Round if things have to go that way.  

db

dbrown and Cow

Marcus is one Smart guy. He understands what is needed for great defense. What I am reading into his comments tells me that the Celtics will look to extend their on the ball pressure because they will have a rim protector.

Boston has a chance to separate themselves from the pack with a dominant defense. The are already a top rated defensive team but can get to another level.

Bill Russell allowed our D to be super aggresive, knowing they had Russ as a backup if an opponent penetrated. I'd love to see RWill do the same.

worcester wrote:Bill Russell allowed our D to be super aggresive, knowing they had Russ as a backup if an opponent penetrated. I'd love to see RWill do the same.

So true. Russell knew when to step out or step back. He dictated what the offensive player could do. RW has tremendous skills but needs to be more advanced in defending the P and R. ( he needs a lot more reps)

If we can have super aggressive defense and not skip a beat, that should be the tell-tale difference that we need to get into the now Iron Clad ESPN LAL/Bucks conversation as the lone party crasher!

db

bobh,

That's what I thought. I'm in sales. I can see sandbagging from a mile away.

db