Discomfort and inflammation were plaguing the left knee of All-Star guard John Wall in November. Because of those issues, he sat out two weeks and missed nine games from Nov. 25 to Dec. 13. He got back into form for the most part since then, but of late the knee issues are troubling Wall once again.
According to Candace Buckner of The Washington Post, Wall visited with orthopedic surgeon Richard D. Parker of the Cleveland Clinic Marymount yesterday. Parker performed Wall’s two knee surgeries in 2016 and met with him in November when this season’s issues started up. Wall is expected to miss tonight’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder (7 ET, NBA League Pass) as the Wizards await word on the next steps for their star point guard:
The Washington Wizards and the five-time all-star point guard have no answers as to why he periodically deals with knee soreness, stemming from an injury in early November. Though Wall has previously had his knee drained, received an MRI and got injections, he’s back to repeating some of these steps even two months after the initial diagnosis revealed he was experiencing inflammation in the knee.
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“It’s a concern but we have to trust that the doctors and everybody is going to have the best game plan for him going forward and it’s always about him going forward, not about us going forward,” Wizards Coach Scott Brooks said. “We want to make sure, not only with John but with all our guys that their career is most important. But right now I don’t know how concerned, but we’re definitely concerned that it is bothering him from time to time.”
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“We don’t know what that means,” Brooks said of Wall’s second meeting with Parker. “We just know that they’re going to all meet and we’re going to go from there . . . The next couple of days we’ll know more.”
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Brooks revealed that Wall needed his knee drained “a few times” with the last procedure happening “maybe a few weeks ago.” Wall has missed 10 games due to his knee, and 12 total this season. Brooks said he is not preparing for another long stretch without his point guard.
“We’ve done it before, so I know what it looks like, but no, we’re hoping for the best,” Brooks said. “He’s had some good games even when his knee has been sore, but we want to make sure that we do what’s best for John. That’s why we’re doing this. I still feel comfortable with our guys.”
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