Danilo Gallinari watched all the ups and downs the Boston Celtics endured this season from the sideline.
It surely wasn’t his preferred choice but a necessary one as the veteran forward recovered from a torn ACL he sustained in late August after signing a two-year, $13.3 million deal to join the Celtics in free agency.
With Boston’s campaign coming to a close in crushing fashion in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals on Monday, it put Gallinari in a reflective mood as he looked back Wednesday on a lost season for himself.
“My 15th season in NBA is over. I would have liked to play. I would have liked to have debuted in this jersey in front of these amazing fans. I would have liked to help my teammates. And I would have liked to have seen us until the end,” Gallinari tweeted. “It will take a while to accept this defeat. We believed in it until the last minute and gave everything as a group. From tomorrow the heads and legs will work to prepare for next season. Season number 16 in a league that always knows how to give me emotions that I will never get used to.”
While Gallinari got Celtics fans excited any time he got shots up at the Celtics practice facility, it seemed like the 6-foot-10 sharpshooter wasn’t close to getting on the court for game action this season. This is the second time an ACL injury has caused the 34-year-old to miss an entire season as Gallinari also sat out the 2013-14 campaign with the Denver Nuggets.
Boston sure could have used Gallinari’s long-range shot-making in the conference finals against the Heat as the Celtics hit just 16-of-77 (20.8%) of their attempts from beyond the arc over the last two games of the series. Gallinari is a 38.2% 3-point shooter in his career while also averaging 15.6 points per game over 15 seasons.
That type of offensive production will have to wait for next season, though, as Gallinari looks to contribute on the court for the Celtics for the first time.
