Kemba Walker Won't Play In Friday's Exhibition, But 'Pretty Darn Close' To Returning
By Matthew Geagan, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- It was a day that ends in Y, so Brad Stevens was asked for an update on Kemba Walker and the point guard's left knee. The news continues to be worrisome, but at the same time, Stevens' update did have a little bit of promise.
And that is the Kemba Walker knee saga in a nutshell. It could be really bad, but the Celtics are hopeful it's not.
Walker did about an hour of work prior to Tuesday's session down in Orlando, but did not participate in any of the team's scrimmages. Stevens said that his All-Star point guard has been doing some level of activity each of the last five days, which is different from the every other day plan the team had for Walker. But all of that activity hasn't led to any setbacks, which is good news.
"He's felt great and he's been able to add strength," Stevens said on his Zoom interview with reporters. "And those were the two things we needed to prioritize."
The bad news, however, is that Walker will not be suiting up for Friday's exhibition game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
"I don't think he will play against Oklahoma City, even though he will practice the day before," said Stevens.. "But he's pretty darn close right now."
The hope is that Walker will be able to participate in Thursday's practice, should his Wednesday evaluation go well. After Boston's exhibition opener against the Thunder, the team will have tune-ups against the Suns on Sunday and the Rockets on Tuesday ahead of their restart opener against the Milwaukee Bucks next Friday.
It would be nice to see Walker in one of those pretend games ahead of Boston's eight-game seeding schedule. But as long as he is close to his normal self when the playoffs arrive in mid-August, that's all that should matter to the Celtics.
