A 3-5 start isn’t the beginning to the season the New Orleans Pelicans hoped for, but they were dealt a hand of significant injuries even before 2017-18 got rolling. One of the most key injuries came more than a month ago, when new addition Rajon Rondo was sidelined for 4-6 weeks with a sports hernia injury.
While Rondo still some work to do in his injury rehabilitation, he remains a vocal sideline presence for the Pelicans both at practices and in games. The Pelicans host the Dallas Mavericks tonight (8:30 ET, NBA League Pass), yet Rondo may have a comeback date in mind already. William Guillory of The Times-Picayune has more:
Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry mentioned after Thursday’s practice that he may be eyeing Nov. 17’s matchup against Denver as a possible return date for his team’s vocal leader, but it’ll depend on how his body feels during the coming weeks.
“It’s on feel,” said Rondo, on knowing when he’s ready. “I wake up and I feel pretty good everyday. We take for granted that we can get out of bed on the regular, for the couple weeks I was down, I couldn’t. I’m jus happy I can get out of bed without having assistance or not having to roll over to my side and get up.
“I feel good everyday, I’m getting better and trying to continue to stay in the weight room and get stronger.”
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“My lateral movement, that’s the hardest part to come back from with a sports hernia,” Rondo said. “(Moving) forward and backwards is easy, but being able to stay in front of guys and move side to side would be the most difficult part. I’m waiting on that.”
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