David Lee progressing and out of the hospital
Golden State Warriors power-forward David Lee was released from the hospital on Thursday after undergoing a second elbow surgery on Monday 15 November. The team doctors have confirmed that
Lee’s condition is improving.
According to the team doctors, Lee, who sustained the injury after a nasty collision with Wilson Chandler, is progressing faster than expected and the swelling and redness around his elbow
is subsiding.
Golden State Warriors head coach Keith Smart was thrilled upon hearing the news and he is hoping that Lee can play soon and help the Warriors sustain their strong start this season - winning
in seven of their first 11 games.
“That's great, just for the psyche of our team,” said Smart, who took over the coaching helm after the Warriors fired Don Nelson during the off-season.
“The life that he brings to the team even before he gets back on the floor is pretty impressive. The players love him. They all miss him. We're glad he's going to finally get a chance
to start coming back around the team.”
Although Lee’s condition is improving, Smart said that they do not have any timetable for his return, but he is quite sure that Lee will still be sidelined next week. The 27-year-old power-forward
still needs some more treatment to flush out the infection and he will be re-evaluated on Tuesday 23 November.
“We all just want to see him,” said Smart on Lee, who is averaging 14.3 points and 11.3 rebounds per game this season. “Once we see him...we can start getting him back into the package.”
Without Lee, Smart will have to make adjustments in their rotation and he admitted that he is having a difficult time since the Warriors do not have a true backup power-forward.
“We're going to look at the guy who is playing well in that position,” Smart said. “Everyone who's playing that position, they know what's expected and what we want from them and so we'll
keep going that direction until we've locked into someone who can provide us some of the things that David can bring.”
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