Getty FOSHAN, CHINA - AUGUST 31: #8 Danilo Gallinari of the Italy National Team reacts against the Philippines National Team during the 1st round of 2019 FIBA World Cup at GBA International Sports and Cultural Center on August 31, 2019 in Foshan, China. (Photo by Zhong Zhi/Getty Images)
For a moment there, it really looked like Danilo Gallinari would never suit up for the Boston Celtics during the 2022-23 season. During Italy’s matchup against Georgia in the 2022 EuroBasket Tournament, Gallinari’s left knee bent the wrong way while running on a fast break. Gallinari had to be helped off the floor by his teammates after suffering the non-contact injury to his knee, which made many assume the worst had happened.
Danilo Gallinari injury
#Gallinari #ITAGEO
After the game, Italy’s Head Coach Gianmarco Pozzezzo said that the team had feared that Gallinari may have torn his ACL.
🇮🇹 UPDATE: By Gianmarco Pozzecco’s words, head coach of Italy, the feeling is that Danilo Gallinari tore his left cruciate ligaments. Nothing official yet. “I hope and I pray that nothing bad will come out. It was… it is an honor coaching him. I saw pain in his eyes”, he said.
However, Shams Charania provided an update on Gallinari that will be of much comfort to Celtics fans.
Initial exams on Celtics forward Danilo Gallinari’s left knee show that the ACL is stable, full tests to come with an MRI on Sunday, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Good early news.
Gallinari had torn that ACL during the 2012-13 season when he played for the Denver Nuggets. Just before the playoffs were about to start, Gallinari tore his left ACL against the Dallas Mavericks, which not only took him out of the playoffs but out of the next season as well.
This does not mean that Gallinari is out of the woods just yet. There is a variety of possible knee injuries that he may have suffered on that play. It just means that he did not suffer what would have likely been a season-ending injury. As far as what he may have damaged, some Twitter doctors have their theories.
Doctor Thinks Gallinari Has a Bone Bruise
Before Shams reported that Gallinari’s ACL was not torn, Jesse Morse, a licensed physician in Sports Medicine, believed that Gallinari’s injury was akin to banging knees, which will result in a bone bruise. Nonetheless, he believes Gallinari may have also sprained either or both of his LCL and MCL.
Others who are in medicine disagreed with Morse’s analysis before Charania’s report confirmed his ACL was intact.
@DrJesseMorse Upon initial review
The only way everyone will know for sure what Gallinari’s exact injury was on that play will be revealed when he gets his MRI on Sunday. Gallinari could very well miss the start of the 2022-23 season. He might miss the first month or so of the season. Or he’ll be ready for training camp next month.
Nonetheless, it’s moments that serve as a reminder that Gallinari is injury-prone, just as one executive had warned after the Celtics signed him.
Exec Issued Caution Regarding Gallinari’s Injury History
After the Celtics had signed Gallinari earlier this offseason, an Eastern Conference executive issued a warning regarding Gallinari’s injury issues since tearing his ACL in 2013.
“He injured that ACL (his left, in 2013), and it’s been an issue ever since,” the executive told Heavy. “He has had trouble staying healthy, and he has all the things you watch out for after an injury like that—ankle trouble, Achilles, glutes, back. Remember, he had a surgery and then had a whole other surgery a different way, the traditional ACL surgery, after that, so he has just never been really right, physically, since then.”
Gallinari has played 60 or more games for three of the last four seasons, but even so, the executive said the Celtics will have to handle him carefully not just because of his injury history, but because of his skillset.
“He can give you 60 games, 65 games, and when he is right, he is still an excellent scorer, especially at that size (6-foot-10). You have got to rest him. Keep him ready if you make a long playoff run. But the health thing is going to be baked in with him at this point. He is going to need time off.”