Achilles Pain Not New For Douglas-Roberts

Rowan Kavner

ORLANDO – The peace of mind knowing what’s hurting him takes at least a fraction of the frustration away for Chris Douglas-Roberts.

The Clippers’ forward has felt pain in the back of his foot since working out in the summer, but it wasn’t until a practice a week ago his Achilles injury became unbearable enough that he had to speak up and sit out.

“It was probably, like, five days ago at practice,” Douglas-Roberts said before the Clippers played the Bulls on Monday. “It felt pretty good the whole practice and I just made a regular move and it was really painful, and I just had to take myself out of practice.

“Then that night, I was feeling it at 3 a.m. I couldn’t really sleep, so I just came in the next day like, ‘I can’t pretend that this isn’t painful anymore. Forget trying to tough it out. You need to be healthy.’”

That’s when Douglas-Roberts and the Clippers decided to get an MRI, and they knew something was wrong. It revealed a strain in his Achilles.

The injury is expected to keep him out at least a few weeks. For the time being, all Douglas-Roberts do can rest and stay off his feet.

“It’s more aggravating than anything,” Douglas-Roberts said. “You can feel good walking. I feel good. I feel a little sore, but once I start moving and making cuts, at any time it can just take me out. When you’re hurt, it’s more mental, too, than anything. You can’t really do the things that you usually do, and that’s what it was for me all season. I’m playing through it, but I’m not myself, and you know that.”

Douglas-Roberts said he trusts the doctors and trainers on the Clippers to get him right. After a few weeks, he’ll try to be more active and move around more.

“We didn’t know exactly what it was until we got the MRI, but we felt that we needed the MRI just to know exactly how to treat it,” Douglas-Roberts said. “I don’t know, trying to play on an Achilles is tough, even if it’s very minor. I thought it was a heel. I didn’t really know, but we know now. So I’m just looking forward to being healthy for the first time in a long time.”

It’s been a frustrating injury for Douglas-Roberts, who’s tried to play through it for months. He couldn’t get lift during workouts in the summer like he wanted to. He’d take time off, thinking he was over whatever the issue was, and then would return and aggravate it again.

“Then I’d have to take a little more time off,” he said. “It’s tricky, because I was able to play and practice some days. I just wasn’t 100 percent for a long time, so I look forward to being 100 percent for the first time.”

Douglas-Roberts began the preseason in the mix to start at small forward, but he hasn’t gotten any time on the court since playing four minutes against the Warriors on Nov. 5.

He’s averaging two points and 1.8 rebounds per game and hopes that he can feel more like himself when he’s not laboring through pain in a few weeks. Douglas-Roberts averaged 6.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and an assist last season.

“I really try to find the positives in everything,” he said. “I think the positive in this is I knew I wasn’t right. I knew I wasn’t right, so the big thing is just getting healthy for the first time in a long time. That’s what I’m looking forward to, just knowing that there was something.”

RELATED CONTENT