Boston Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis will reportedly need surgery on his rare left injury that he suffered in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps reported Monday.
Porzingis told Bontemps that the recovery process will take a “few months.”
Porzingis played through the injury and returned for the Celtics just in time to help them win an NBA championship.
The seven-foot-two Latvian came back on Monday night after missing the previous two games, scoring five points with one rebound in 16 minutes to help the Celtics beat the Mavericks 106-88 in Game 5 and win their 18th NBA title.
“I gave everything I could. I gave everything I could,” he said. “And, man, it feels great to be a champion.”
The Celtics have said that his tendon issue is unrelated to the calf strain Porzingis sustained April 29 in the first round against Miami that led to him missing 10 games.
“It was something torn. And then my tendon is just out of place. And it pretty much hurts on every step. Like, I would take a walk in Dallas, and my leg would swell up,” he said. “I was like, I don’t know how I’m going to play, if I’m going to play. But my mindset was always, I’m going to try to find a way how I can manage this.
“And somehow I got it going for this game. A lot of it was for sure like the adrenaline from just playing at the Garden and playing in front of our fans and having that opportunity to close it out. And, man, I got it going.”
— With files from the Associated Press
