Kemba Walker Thread

[ajones9219]

Anybody know what the exact nature of the issue is, beyond just 'knee discomfort'? Remember when TA had that ongoing knee issue, and they'd just never say what the exact issue was?

minor discomfort is what they are saying. I think this is getting blown WAY out of hand. Boston seems like they are just being very cautious so he is good to go in the playoffs. Knee issues are always present. A lot of times its just something you play through and manage over the season.

[captain green]

I think its fine we can hold for 8 games without him. Being cautious is the smart thing to do

[ConstableGeneva]

Needless to say, gotta applaud Danny Ainge for our major player acquisitions since 2016 BUT MAN, have we been unlucky in terms of injury to said players.

2016: Horford - missed several games due to TWO separate concussion incidents then another hit to the head/face; knee issues
2017: Kyrie - thinks the earth is flat; missed 2018 playoffs due to knee surgery; might as well have missed the 2019 playoffs
2017: Hayward - we all know what happened there; still suffers from foot soreness
2019: Kemba - knee issues in the 1st year of his 4-year max contract; missed more games this season (14) than double his previous four seasons combined (6)

EDIT: Make that FIVE major acquisitions if we include Isaiah Thomas (acquired 2015; pretty much career-ending hip injury in 2017 playoffs)

[Saint Lazarus]

Anybody know what the exact nature of the issue is, beyond just 'knee discomfort'? Remember when TA had that ongoing knee issue, and they'd just never say what the exact issue was?

minor discomfort is what they are saying. I think this is getting blown WAY out of hand. Boston seems like they are just being very cautious so he is good to go in the playoffs. Knee issues are always present. A lot of times its just something you play through and manage over the season.

You pretty much have to be a Homer to think it's being blown out of proportion. It's literally been 4 months since our last game. If there's nothing wrong, they wouldn't need to hold Kemba out to this extent.

[ajones9219]

Anybody know what the exact nature of the issue is, beyond just 'knee discomfort'? Remember when TA had that ongoing knee issue, and they'd just never say what the exact issue was?

minor discomfort is what they are saying. I think this is getting blown WAY out of hand. Boston seems like they are just being very cautious so he is good to go in the playoffs. Knee issues are always present. A lot of times its just something you play through and manage over the season.

You pretty much have to be a Homer to think it's being blown out of proportion. It's literally been 4 months since our last game. If there's nothing wrong, they wouldn't need to hold Kemba out to this extent.

He was participating in both practices in a limited roll. Brad flat out said they are just being careful. They wouldnt have come out and said Kemba would be full go in the next practice if it was something bad. come on man

[Parliament10]

minor discomfort is what they are saying. I think this is getting blown WAY out of hand. Boston seems like they are just being very cautious so he is good to go in the playoffs. Knee issues are always present. A lot of times its just something you play through and manage over the season.

You pretty much have to be a Homer to think it's being blown out of proportion. It's literally been 4 months since our last game. If there's nothing wrong, they wouldn't need to hold Kemba out to this extent.

He was participating in both practices in a limited roll. Brad flat out said they are just being careful. They wouldnt have come out and said Kemba would be full go in the next practice if it was something bad. come on man

Read on Twitter

"[E]xperiencing some knee discomfort."

It's time to consider this a more serious and lingering issue.

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

I'd normally be concerned about Kemba's knee, but fact of the matter is that we still have Marcus Smart on the roster, and Tremont Waters looks like an absolute stud. Sit Kemba until his knee is better.....worst case scenario going forward - put Kemba on a minutes restriction and have him come off the bench for instant offense. If limited minutes will prolong his career, Kemba seems humble enough to accept his role, so long as he's in the game during crunch time.

[ajones9219]

You pretty much have to be a Homer to think it's being blown out of proportion. It's literally been 4 months since our last game. If there's nothing wrong, they wouldn't need to hold Kemba out to this extent.

He was participating in both practices in a limited roll. Brad flat out said they are just being careful. They wouldnt have come out and said Kemba would be full go in the next practice if it was something bad. come on man

Read on Twitter

"[E]xperiencing some knee discomfort."

It's time to consider this a more serious and lingering issue.

Yeah since when is discomfort a serious injury? I think its gonna be a lingering thing but I really dont think its something that will seriously hinder him. I feel like this board loves to go full doomsday whenever someone is injured.

[Parliament10]

He was participating in both practices in a limited roll. Brad flat out said they are just being careful. They wouldnt have come out and said Kemba would be full go in the next practice if it was something bad. come on man

Read on Twitter

"[E]xperiencing some knee discomfort."

It's time to consider this a more serious and lingering issue.

Yeah since when is discomfort a serious injury? I think its gonna be a lingering thing but I really dont think its something that will seriously hinder him. I feel like this board loves to go full doomsday whenever someone is injured.

IDK about the Doomsday call. But, it's definitely something to be concerned about. After 4 months off?
Particularly in the 1st year of a $141M contract, and on the wrong side of 30.

[ajones9219]

Read on Twitter

"[E]xperiencing some knee discomfort."

It's time to consider this a more serious and lingering issue.

Yeah since when is discomfort a serious injury? I think its gonna be a lingering thing but I really dont think its something that will seriously hinder him. I feel like this board loves to go full doomsday whenever someone is injured.

IDK about the Doomsday call. But, it's definitely something to be concerned about. After 4 months off?
Particularly in the 1st year of a $141M contract, and on the wrong side of 30.

idk maybe I have a biased take. I've broken MANY bones, pulled both rotator cuffs and torn an acl. My knee aches years later some times. I just look at it as a way of life at this point so I dont sweat minor aches

[SMTBSI]

When I was a teenager I wanted to be a stuntman. By the age of 20 I'd already done enough damage to my body (knees in particular) that that dream was dead.

Now, a bunch of years on, I can still trailrun, mountain climb, ski, and all the other fun, outdoorsy things I like to do, but only with a huge amount of attention paid to training/preparation, good mechanics, pain/wear management, recovery, etc. etc.

Basically, if I were in the NBA, I would be that guy who always had to "load manage", but could probably still have a career if I had all the resources at my disposal that they do, and nothing else to do with my time but play and rehab.

Still, I am leaning towards really not liking this particular situation with Kemba. Like Parl says:

After 4 months off? Particularly in the 1st year of a $141M contract, and on the wrong side of 30.

Yeah, that's hard to feel great about. The four months off part is what really worries me. If this is just a management type thing, he should be feeling great right now, you would think.

But I'm not gonna totally declare shambles until I see him out there.

Now if he can't go full speed once games restart, after that much rehab time, I just may...

[djFan71]

Needless to say, gotta applaud Danny Ainge for our major player acquisitions since 2016 BUT MAN, have we been unlucky in terms of injury to said players.

2016: Horford - missed several games due to TWO separate concussion incidents then another hit to the head/face; knee issues
2017: Kyrie - thinks the earth is flat; missed 2018 playoffs due to knee surgery; might as well have missed the 2019 playoffs
2017: Hayward - we all know what happened there; still suffers from foot soreness
2019: Kemba - knee issues in the 1st year of his 4-year max contract; missed more games this season (14) than double his previous four seasons combined (6)

EDIT: Make that FIVE major acquisitions if we include Isaiah Thomas (acquired 2015; pretty much career-ending hip injury in 2017 playoffs)

Really, though, I'm not sure it's bad luck. Hayward is the only true surprise on the list to me. Horford's concussions were unexpected, but both he/Kemba were old when we signed them and knee issues aren't shocking - in fact, predictable. Kyrie was injury prone and had surgery on his knee before we acquired him and is, well, Kyrie.

It sucks that it's happening to Kemba, but it was one of the reasons I was worried about signing him last summer (which seems like 15 years ago now, but...). Even though he had no real history, just committing max money to a small guard his age worried me. I didn't expect the wheels to fall off the first year, but did think it happening during the contract was a very real possibility.

Hopefully it's correctable somehow. Definitely worrisome that all this time off didn't seem to help it, though.


EDIT: Forgot to address your edit...
Same deal, timing wasn't necessarily expected, but fairly predictable. Small guard who had to throw his body around to get anything done and relied entirely on his burst to be effective - basically a ticking injury timebomb. We may have had a thread or 2 about whether he was worth resigning due to that risk. Luckily we didn't have a lot of $ on the line for that one.

[Higgs Boston]

Without the knee injury the contract was already bad because he is just an old borderline all-star but now the contract is looking terrible.

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

Anytime you have a max player that has a knee issue year 1 into a max contract it is a cause for concern. What is a bit more concerning is that Walker has played 4 games in nearly 5 months and it still bothering him.

It also seems whenever a team is describing an injury that is unknown to the fan base teams simply say that player is experiencing 'some discomfort."

[beantownski]

he hasn't been the same player on the court since he first experienced "discomfort". you would have hoped the rest would have cleared anything minor up. i'm starting to fear, this is going to be a permanent thing with him now. playing heavy minutes as an undersized guy takes it's toll.

[GoCeltics123]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[Bill Lumbergh]

I still wish just one reporter would ask Stevens or Ainge, or Kemba himself, what the exact nature of the problem is, other than just 'discomfort.' Surely they would have come up with a diagnosis after all this time.

[Curmudgeon]

Any decent orthopaedist could tell you what the problem is. It's arthritis, a ligament problem or torn cartilage. The latter is correctable via surgery. I'm not sure what you do with the other two.

[Parliament10]

Any decent orthopaedist could tell you what the problem is. It's arthritis, a ligament problem or torn cartilage. The latter is correctable via surgery. I'm not sure what you do with the other two.

I gotta agree with you. Except for the Arthritis. Too early for that, he's only 30.
But, it's definitely something a bit more serious. "Discomfort" after 4 months off? Give me a Break.

[Curmudgeon]

Arthritis can happen at any age.