Getty Danilo Gallinari #8 of the Atlanta Hawks
After initially being diagnosed with a torn meniscus, Boston Celtics forward Danilo Gallinari received a more devastating diagnosis upon further evaluation of his knee with his new team’s medical staff. As it turns out, the non-contact injury he suffered during the 2022 EuroBasket Tournament turned out to be a torn ACL, as reported by Shams Charania on September 2.
After receiving further evaluation, Boston’s Danilo Gallinari has been diagnosed with a torn ACL in his left knee, per sources. This is the same ACL that Gallinari tore in 2013.
Charania followed that up by giving a time range of when Gallinari may be able to return following such an injury.
Steve Hewitt of The Boston Herald shed some light on what Gallinari’s timetable may look like. While reiterating the same timeline Charania stated above, he also reported that Gallinari hopes not to sit out the entire season.
“The typical recovery timeline for a torn ACL is six to 12 months, but Gallinari is reportedly determined to try to return at some point late in this season.”
The silver lining to Gallinari’s torn ACL was that it happened on August 27. In other words, he suffered the injury almost two months before the start of the 2022-23 season. With the timeline presented regarding how long it will take for him to recover, at the earliest, Gallinari’s return date would be sometime this coming March. At the latest, he’ll be out for the season. It will all depend on how his recovery progresses over time.
Gallinari’s Thoughts on His Injury
After the torn ACL was confirmed, Gallinari took to Twitter to express his disappointment in his latest injury. In the Twitter post, Gallinari makes it clear that he hopes to come back as quickly as possible.
What makes this injury news sadder is that Gallinari grew up a Celtics fan, as he admitted during his introductory press conference on July 12.
“I grew up with my dad, since I was a little kid, being a Celtics fan, being a Larry Bird fan,” Gallinari said. “So when the Celtics came on the table, it was almost like a no-brainer. You walk into this facility. You look around, and you see what’s going on around with the banners and the history and everything the Celtics are about, and it was an easy choice.”
Shortly after Gallinari had been introduced by the team, he tweeted that playing for the Celtics had always been a dream of his.
Hewitt’s report of Gallinari’s determination to make his debut late in the 2022-23 season, combined with Gallinari’s ties with the team before signing with them, makes it easy to believe Gallinari will do his best to reach his goal. It will remain to be seen if he reaches it.
Gallinari’s First ACL Tear
Gallinari first tore his left ACL on April 4, 2013, against the Dallas Mavericks, knocking him out for the playoffs, which were right around the corner, as well as the entirety of the 2013-14 season.
It’s now been confirmed that Gallinari re-tore that same ACL over nine years later. Many professional athletes have torn one of their ACLs, but not many have re-torn the same ACL. One of them was former Celtic Jabari Parker, who tore his ACL his rookie year in 2014, then re-tore the same ACL two seasons later in 2017. Both times with his original team, the Milwaukee Bucks.
Before Parker tore his ACL the second time, he was playing his best basketball as a player, averaging 20.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.8 assists while shooting 49 percent from the field and 36.5 percent from three during the 2016-17 season. Parker never put up the same scoring numbers again.
Only time will tell if Gallinari’s scoring abilities will be affected the same way.