Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis Recovering Well From Ankle Surgery, Could Be Ahead Of Schedule

Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis is optimistic that he can return ahead of schedule from an ankle injury he sustained late in the 2023-24 season. Originally slated for a return in late December, the Celtics are hesitantly pushing up this timetable.

Porzingis underwent surgery in late June, which forced him to miss most of Boston’s run to the NBA Finals. While he was limited in the team’s championship pursuit, he was integral to a dominant 65-win regular season. Any acceleration in his recovery would be fantastic news for a Boston team intent on repeating in the 2024-25 season.

“The energy I’m feeling from the doctor, the surgeon, the medical staff is not to rush anything,” Porzingis said at a media day press conference earlier this week. “For myself, obviously, if you ask me and I had to do my own protocol, I would probably go quicker.”

For years, the Celtics were known as an underachieving superteam. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were key stars and the team was always elite at the perimeter, but the team never managed to meet expectations in the postseason. Porzingis arrived in 2023, providing size as well as dynamic scoring ability, and the team finally achieved its potential as an all-time roster.

Even with Porzingis out for the first few months of the coming season, the Celtics are heavy favorites to win another NBA title. If the big man can return any sooner, however, Boston has the opportunity to replicate last season, when they took the 1-seed in the Eastern Conference by daylight and cruised through the playoffs.

Because Porzingis’ specific ailments, a torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon, are so rare, it’s difficult to assess whether he can truly come back any sooner than December. The 29-year-old center has a vaguely concerning injury history anyway, and his potential production upon returning will likely lead the Celtics to remain patient with him.