How long will Celtics’ Danilo Gallinari be out after tearing his meniscus with the Italian team?
With no set timeline for his return, the Celtics forward will likely have to undergo further evaluation before a road to recovery can be determined.
A sad situation for the player, his team in the NBA and his country. The question that remains now is ‘how long will he be sidelined for?’
Celtics’ Danilo Gallinari tears meniscus on international duty
According to reports, Boston Celtics forward Danilo Gallinari suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee while playing for the Italian national team in a FIBA World Cup qualifying game over the weekend. With no official word on a timetable for recovery, we can only wait to see just how long the veteran will be out. With that said, the Italian team did indicate that Gallinari would not play in next month’s EuroBasket tournament.
If there is any good news, it’s that Gallinari does not appear to have suffered any ACL or ligament damage, which is normally the primary concern when dealing with a knee injury. As one can imagine, the length of his road to recovery will be determined by the severity of his injury. At the same time, the NBA’s regular season will tip off in less than two months, which is to say it’s highly unlikely that Gallinari will be available for the Celtics when it does.
How did Danilo Gallinari’s injury occur?
With the Italian team in the middle of a fast break, Gallinari received the ball while trailing his teammates and appeared to go to the floor awkwardly after jumping to make a pass. The player who signed a two-year deal with the Celtics just last month, could be seen hobbling to the sideline while holding the back of his left knee. In the end he was led to the locker room and didn’t return. Understandably, it was something that the Italian team didn’t take well.
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“It’s tough to talk about basketball after what we saw happen to Danilo,” Italy captain Luigi Datome said after the team’s 91-84 win against Georgia. “We wish him, of course, the best.”
What happens to Danilo Gallinari now?
As mentioned above, Gallinari had only recently put pen to paper on a contract with the Boston Celtics. Interestingly, it was a move that was greeted with some degree of fanfare, in that the Celtics were adding even further depth to a roster that had just gone to the NBA finals. Needless to say, Boston will be keeping a watchful eye on his recovery as they will definitely be counting on his services once he is fit to return. As for when that will be, it goes without saying that timetables for recovery from serious injuries can vary drastically and especially when it comes to meniscus tears. At this point, we can only wait for official word following further evaluation.