Boston Celtics forward Danilo Gallinari has officially been diagnosed with a torn meniscus in his left knee. Gallinari was injured while playing for Italy in a 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifier on Saturday.
The Italian National Team initially released the update on Gallinari:
Le condizioni di Danilo Gallinari ⤵️
Gli accertamenti clinici hanno evidenziato una lesione meniscale senza interessamento legamentoso.
Il quadro clinico non permetterà all’atleta di essere a disposizione del CT Gianmarco Pozzecco per l’imminente EuroBasket 2022.#Italbasket pic.twitter.com/Ac3p2bA9hw
— Italbasket (@Italbasket) August 28, 2022
Shortly thereafter, Gallinari confirmed the diagnosis:
⚠️ Official medical report: meniscus lesion. I won’t play #Eurobasket in my home town.
— DANILO GALLINARI (@gallinari8888) August 28, 2022
The injury was originally feared to be a re-tear of Gallinari’s left ACL. That was initially ruled out Saturday evening. An MRI on Sunday then confirmed a torn meniscus, but no ligament damage.
The injury is particularly tough for Gallinari for a few different reasons. He was very much looking forward to representing Italy at this summer’s EuroBasket. In addition, at his age, Gallinari only has so many competitions left on the national team level for Italy.
As for his NBA season with the Celtics, that’s up in the air. At best, Gallinari will start the season late, as he’ll be recovering from the torn meniscus. At worst, Gallinari will miss significant time, including the potential to miss the entire season.
At this point, it’s unknown what the extent of the tear is. There are different surgical options for a torn meniscus, and each comes with a different return-to-play timeline. What option is best for Gallinari will be determined at a later date. After that, we’ll have a better idea on how long the new Celtics forward may be out.
Boston fans are familiar with the recovery from a torn meniscus, as Robert Williams suffered a similar injury last season. Williams tore his meniscus in late-March. He returned just shy of a month later, for Game 3 of the Celtics first round playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets.
Williams was then in and out of the lineup during the second round against the Milwaukee Bucks and in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat. Williams played in all six games of the 2022 NBA Finals vs the Golden State Warriors but was visibly hampered by his knee at times.
Reports have recently surfaced that Williams is feeling good and was prescribed only rest this summer. Williams is also reportedly going to be fully available for the start of training camp next month.
Gallinari, like his new teammate, seems to have avoided the worst fate with a knee injury, as there was no ligament damage. Now, we wait to see just how long Boston will be without one of their key offseason additions.
