The Boston Celtics were dealt a devastating blow Monday with the organization revealing Robert Williams was diagnosed with a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee.
The Celtics did not announce any further timeline on Williams’ return of what his recovery may look like, but ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski offered some intel into two possibilities for the starting center moving forward. Now, obviously, Wojnarowski is not a doctor and does not pretend to be, but his insights likely are rooted back to those involved in the decision-making process.
“It’s a left meniscus tear for Robert Williams,” Wojnarowski said during an appearance on ESPN’s NBA Today on Monday. “And now what the Celtics and Robert Williams, his agent Kevin Bradbury, are discussing with the doctors is what kind of procedure he’s going to have for that meniscus. Now there’s essentially two options here. One is more of a four-to-six week procedure that he could potentially be back maybe after the first round of the playoffs or a little bit later. And there’s another longer-term procedure that would likely keep him out the rest of the season.
“This is a really devastating blow for a Boston team that not only has been the best in the league over the last couple months, but the best defensive team by far,” Wojnarowski continued. “And so for Boston, now they’ll continue to discuss the surgical options for Robert Williams. He will have a procedure, I’m told, the question will be is that one that would allow him to return at some point in the playoffs if Boston advances.”
The Eastern Conference-leading Celtics owe a lot of their remarkable midseason turnaround the Williams given both his defensive prowess and his ability as a rim-runner. Williams has averaged 10.0 points on 73.6% shooting with 9.6 rebounds per game in 61 contests this season.
Boston now will have to rely on Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and the rest of the group to step up a bit more with Daniel Theis and Al Horford, specially, tasked to bring some of the versatility that Williams brings to the Celtics.
