Thibodeau Opens Up About Delayed Return of Knicks’ Kemba Walker

Getty Kemba Walker, Knicks

It has been nearly three weeks now since one of the better NBA stories of the early part of the season—the fall and rise of Kemba Walker in New York—was put back on hold, as Walker was shut down by the team with a recurrence of the persistent left knee problem he has battled for most of the last few years of his career.

Walker has not played since December 29, a nine-game stretch in which the team has gone 5-4 and has managed wins in five of its last seven games

According to coach Tom Thibodeau, Walker is close to returning but the team wants him to come back and remain healthy once he is in uniform again.

“The big thing is, regarding Kemba is I want him to feel as good as possible,’’ Thibodeau said, after Monday’s loss to the Hornets. “A player like him, in the situation that he’s in, I want him to completely trust where he is with his body. When he’s ready, he’s ready. He’ll let us know. We trust him.

“He’s pretty close. He’s loading up pretty good. When he’s there, we’ll know. He’ll know. That’s the most important thing. I think as a pro athlete, a pro athlete has to trust his body.’’

Walker Had Momentum in Late December

Still, it would be nice to gain back some of the momentum that Walker seemed to have in the run-up to the New Year, in which he had a four-game run averaging 26.0 points, 7.0 assists and 8.3 rebounds.

It is hard to say whether Walker will come back and find the same role waiting for him as when he left. The Knicks are still scrambling at point guard but have seemed to find a rotation with which Thibodeau is comfortable, featuring Alec Burks and R.J. Barrett as combo guards with the starters, and Immanuel Quickley getting good minutes off the bench.

Back when the Knicks were figuring out what to do with Walker, Thibodeau was adamant that he would use Walker as a starter or not at all. It was an odd stance to take—especially since Walker said he would be OK with coming off the bench—but Thibodeau did stick with it, and all 24 of Walker’s appearances have been as a starter.

Walker Needs to Get Back to ‘Game Intensity’

Certainly, “loading up pretty good,” sounds encouraging and could indicate that Walker’s return is pending. But Thibodeau was asked to elaborate on what, exactly, the phrase means in this case.

“There’s nothing that can replicate the intensity of a game,” Thibodeau said. “So when you have a period of time off and you’re not doing anything, there has to be a gradual build-up to get you to where you can take the contact and be comfortable with it. So that’s where he is. He’s ramped up pretty good, but he hasn’t taken enough contact yet. Once he gets to that point, then he’ll be ready to go.”

The Knicks will be back at it on Tuesday night at home against Minnesota, hoping to get a W against a team that has also won five of its last seven games.