NEW YORK (AP) — Brooklyn Nets guard D’Angelo Russell had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Friday.
The procedure was performed by Dr. Riley Williams III at the Hospital for Special Surgery. No timetable for his return was announced.
“It’s an arthroscopic surgery, so the plan would be for him to return this season,” general manager Sean Marks said. “It’s definitely frustrating for D’Angelo. He’s going into this as another challenge. He knows he’ll bounce back from this and we have no doubts in our mind that he’ll be better and stronger than he was before.”
Russell missed time due to knee injuries last season, but this latest injury that occurred during the Nets’ recent road trip was not related.
“This was a direct correlation to the incident that happened in Utah,” Marks said. “I think with any 21-year-old that’s played a lot of basketball you’re going to have a little bit of wear and tear. The good thing is he’s young enough and he’s certainly going to bounce back from something like this. We’re not too concerned in that regard.”
Russell has played in 12 games for Brooklyn this season with team-leading averages of 20.9 points and 5.7 assists.
Spencer Dinwiddie now takes over as the starting point guard in place of Russell.
In addition, Marks said there’s “probably a pretty good chance” Brooklyn applies for a disabled player exception for Jeremy Lin, who suffered a season-ending ruptured patellar tendon. The Nets previously did not apply for the disabled player exception before Russell’s injury.
