The Celtics very much miss the contributions of Robert Williams III. While it is oversimplifying to blame all the defensive struggles on missing one key player, it is undeniable that a full strength Rob would help tremendously. So it is nice to hear that he’s traveling with the team and appears to be on schedule.
Via the Globe
However, Williams remains on schedule to return to basketball activities in the 8-to-12-week frame, The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach reported. That doesn’t necessarily mean that Williams will be playing games before the 12 weeks are up because the timeline pertains to just returning to basketball activities, but Friday marked the six-week mark since he underwent surgery.
Williams and the Celtics would be wise indeed to take things slowly and ease him back into action one step at a time. He’s been pretty up front with the fact that he has no regrets playing through pain in order to support the team through their Finals run. But with plenty of time left in the regular season and (hopefully) another long playoff run coming up, it would make sense to be sure he’s 100% healthy and ready to return to the court.
The team has enough talent to thrive in the regular season without him. Of course that’s not to diminish his impact on both sides of the ball.
Via MassLive
“We’ll be that much better of a team,” Tatum told reporters Saturday night. “That’s how important Rob is to our group. I can’t stress enough how important he is to the offensive end, defensive end, his presence, lob threat, protecting the rim and his ability to pass the ball. Obviously, we miss him but we don’t want to rush him back because we want to win when it matters most.”
“Obviously Rob makes the game easier for a lot of us, offensively and defensively”
Jaylen Brown on playing without Rob Williams pic.twitter.com/9NTktSFMlE
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) November 6, 2022
Get well soon Rob, and take your time getting right.
