“We’d like (him) to practice, but the goal now is to get him as healthy as possible, so that when he does go, there’s no setbacks,” King said. “There is no need for him to have a setback in day two that sets him back so you’re not ready for opening day.”
King stressed that the lack of a timetable isn’t a long-term indictment of Williams’s ankle, and it’s hard to blame him for doing so. Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook, who sustained a right knee injury in last year’s playoffs, underwent a second surgery on his knee yesterday and will be out another 4-6 weeks.
Williams’s injury doesn’t have the same long-term implications as Westbrook’s. It’s just that the Nets want to bring him along slowly. “We don’t play our first regular season game till (October) 30th,” King added. “There’s no need to rush him back, so that’s why there’s no timetable.”
The Nets guard sustained the injury while working out at his home in Utah. He was fitted with a walking boot during Dodge Barrage, a celebrity dodgeball tournament to benefit Point of Hope, Williams’s charity foundation.
Williams dealt with synovitis (inflammation) in both ankles last year, undergoing cortisone shots and platelet-rich plasma therapy in February. King has no worries about Williams’s current ankle injury, noting that Williams’s injury is “different” without elaborating.
