After tearing his ACL in late August, Danilo Gallinari of the Boston Celtics may not play this season. But he wished his team well and made a promise that he would play again in the future.
“I wanted to start the regular season with you but…..there will be time! Meanwhile, our race starts tomorrow. All together. Come on Celtics,” Gallinari, 34, tweeted on October 17, a day before Boston opened its 2022-23 season at home against the Philadelphia 76ers.
I wanted to start the regular season with you but…..there will be time! 💪🏻 Meanwhile, our race starts tomorrow. All together. Come on @celtics 🍀
Speaking to reporters on October 11, Gallinari avoided specifics when fielding questions about whether he felt he could return this season, instead focusing on his rehabilitation.
“I’m just taking [rehab] day by day,” Gallinari said. “That’s the best way to approach a rehab and approach an injury like this, to take it day by day and not really think about what’s going to happen in the future. So that’s the approach that I have.”
Gallinari tore the ACL in his left knee August 27 while playing for the Italian national team in an International Basketball Federation (FIBA) World Cup qualifying game. After the announced diagnosis in early September, the The Athletic’s Shams Charania tweeted that the “typical ACL recovery time ranges from 6-to-12 months.”
Gallinari Jokes About His Recovery
Gallinari will get a clearer picture of when he can make his return as his rehab progresses. Since undergoing surgery to repair his torn ACL, Gallinari has posted videos of his rehab on his social media pages, making jokes about the exercises he has to do to rehabilitate his knee.
“I’m ready for the next parade,” he tweeted October 14, posting a video of him high-step marching.
I’m ready for the next parade 🫡🇺🇲🤣
And on October 11, he tweeted out a video of him smiling as he walks waist-deep in a swimming pool to The Beach Boys’ “Surfin’ USA.” The video’s subtitles say: “I look so small in the pool … this rehab is changing me.”
Is it true or not? 🤣
@celtics
Gallinari tore the same ACL in 2013 as a member of the Denver Nuggets. That injury forced him to miss both that season’s playoffs and the entire 2013-14 season. He noted that at least he has some familiarity with what to expect in his recovery but acknowledged how it’s going to be to sit out at most, if not all, of the Celtics’ season.
“The good and the bad thing is that I’ve been through this already, so I know what to expect,” Gallinari told reporters. “But it’s always tough, especially when you approach a situation like this, coming to play for the Celtics, ready to help the team winning. It’s tough, but nothing I can do about it. We’re here, and now we gotta focus on the rehab.”
Gallinari Listed on Injury Report
Both Gallinari and Robert Williams III (knee) were listed on the Celtics injury report ahead of the October 18 season opener.
#NEBHInjuryReport for tomorrow vs. Philadelphia:
Danilo Gallinari (left knee ACL repair) – OUT
Robert Williams (left knee arthroscopy) – OUT
Williams is expected to return at some point during this coming season, while Gallinari’s remains up in the air. Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney caught up with an Eastern Conference executive, who gave his take on Gallinari’s possible return to the Celtics.
“[The Celtics] would be dumb to think he might, and I don’t think they are dumb,” the exec told Deveney. “It is not impossible, but no one wants to come back after a year and pop up in the playoffs. It never works out.”
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Danilo Gallinari Makes Vow to the Celtics