Well I’m Not Happy…Kemba Walker will Start Re-start on Minutes Restriction

The Celtics are supposed to kick off their scrimmage schedule in a few weeks. I think I speak for a majority of people when I say I can’t WAIT for basketball to come back. Keep in mind, I know NASCAR and golf are on. But, I’m just not into those sports. No disrespect to anybody that does! Anyways, back to the Celtics. We already saw that Gordon Hayward will leave the bubble when his wife Robin goes into labor. Now, we have multiple sources saying Kemba Walker will start with a minutes restriction.

Celtics guard Kemba Walker will begin NBA restart on minutes restriction: https://t.co/yCHmEBlpDU

— 98.5 The Sports Hub (@985TheSportsHub) July 13, 2020

Now obviously with this news, there’s a few things to question here.

How Good is Kemba’s Knee?

Kemba Walker has said that he’s been trying to get his knee to be stronger than it was before play was halted due to COVID-19. But it makes me wonder how good the knee really is and will it hold up for a playoff run. Remember, this is Kemba Walker’s FIRST playoff appearance of his NBA career. He never sniffed the playoffs with the Hornets and now is surrounded by much more talent with this Celtics team. Point being, he’s not used to playing later than 82 games in a season. That knee has to be 100% or extremely close to it for the Celtics to have any success during the playoffs.

How will the Chemistry be Affected?

Like I mentioned before, Hayward is going to leave once Robin is in labor. Right there, you’re down to Kemba, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown. If Kemba can’t go 100%, can we really rely on only Tatum and Brown to lead the Celtics to a title? Marcus Smart is good and the Celtics have other solid pieces in place. But Kemba on the floor gives them another terrific option. Plus, you can’t replace the on the court leadership qualities Walkers possesses.

In Conclusion

Hopefully this is just precautionary. Walker’s knee has been a legitimate concern since the quarantine started. Now it’s crunch time. Will Kemba be 100%? Could the knee be worse than we all expected? Will Kemba surprise us with a monstrous playoff performance? That will all be solved within due time. For now, get me my Celtics back on the court!

-Al Nahigian (@BigAl2793)

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Featured Image courtesy of nba.com/