NBA Rumors: Boston Celtics Star Bugged By Injury, Triggers Concerns Ahead Of Restart

Serious anxiety is emerging from the Boston Celtics. With just a few weeks left before the NBA restart, the East powerhouse team might be in for a tough challenge with the status of Kemba Walker’s health starting to become a concern in their bid for a deep playoff run in the Orlando bubble.

Several reports state that Walker continues to be bugged by his left knee injury that he suffered even before the NBA called for the suspension of the games in March due to the pandemic. Apparently, the worry has escalated as the All-Star point guard reportedly missed his second straight practice with the Celtics on Monday.

Head coach Brad Stevens did not deny the condition of his star player. However, the young tactician implicitly dismissed the situation as a troubling state inside the Celtics camp, calling Walker’s injury as a “small discomfort.”

"He had a little bit of discomfort after some of the individual workouts. He certainly feels better than he did in March. But with the small discomfort, we said let's take four days and ramp it up from there," Stevens said, via Jared Weiss of The Athletic.

Damon Lincoln of Hardwood Houdini stated that Celtics fans should not buy into Boston’s positive impression on Walker’s injury, citing the same occurrences in the past to prove that history is not on their side.

“Despite the organization’s extremely cautious approach and optimism that Walker will be fine, anyone cheering on the Boston Celtics this summer should be worried. Knee injuries have haunted the 17-time World Champions, just as recently as Kyrie Irving in 2018, and very notably Kevin Garnett in 2009, both of which might have cost Boston a championship during those seasons.

“They are pesky injuries that often seem to linger around, not allowing players to be 100 percent themselves on the court, which makes it even scarier knowing Walker signed a 4-year, $141 million max-contract this past offseason.

“Hopefully the organization’s cautious approach will allow Walker to get back to his All-NBA self during the resumption of the season, but Celtics Nation should be very worried until he can show the knee issue is behind him.”

Boston entered the bubble as a third-place team in the East with a 43-21 record behind the Milwaukee Bucks and the Toronto Raptors.

Walker has earned the credit in keeping the Celtics in contention despite playing in just his first year with the team. But with the 6’0 guard expected to be on minutes restriction at least for the final regular-season games, Boston could be forced to adjust and find ways to cover the void, especially on scoring as he is responsible for 21.2 points per game – the second highest in the team behind Jayson Tatum.