Those of us in the Celtics media circle can thank Kristaps Porzingis for educating us on the retinaculum and posterior tibialis tendon.
We’re all well aware of those body parts now after the big man suffered injuries to both in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Since then, he’s undergone surgery to repair both ailments and has been working to return to the hardwood since winning a championship back in June.
Boston’s No. 8 discussed when he expects to be back up to speed in an interview ahead of Tuesday’s Media Day.
“The expectation is sometime in December,” Porzingis told ESPN’s Ramona Shelbourne. “But I’m feeling really good and I’m working towards hopefully playing earlier than that.”
KP’s goal lines up with everything we’ve heard up until this point.
President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens had ruled the big man out for the beginning of the season, almost immediately after the team’s championship parade.
“Kristaps, after his surgery, we don’t know exactly when he’ll be back,” Stevens explained during an appearance on the “Ryen Russillo Podcast” back in June. “But, you know, he’ll probably miss at least the very start of the season.”
Stevens later said that Porzingis was recovering nicely but it would still be a while before he was ready to play.
“He’s in Latvia. He’s starting to do more and more and more,” he told “The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach last month. “He was in a boot for a while there, but every indication is he’s progressing well and he’s on the right timeline. But it’s going to be a while.”
The big Latvian appeared in 57 regular season games for Boston last year and proved to be a fantastic addition to the squad. He provided the offense with some great spacing, making 37.5% of his threes, to go along with some loud finishes at the rim. He served as a great rim protector on the other end of the floor too, averaging 1.9 blocks per game.
His absence will certainly be felt in the first month or so of the 2024-25 season.
