Danilo Gallinari on Injury Recovery and Celtics Future: “I’m Still Here”

BOSTON — Danilo Gallinari never left the Celtics.

Once he tore his ACL in August playing for Team Italy, a triple blow that trounced his EuroBasket aspirations, placed his father’s dream of seeing him play for the Celtics in doubt and threatened his NBA career, hope emerged initially when the Italian team’s doctors diagnosed him with a meniscus tear. He carried it forward once the word of a second ACL tear in his left knee met him upon arrival in Boston.

Gallinari doesn’t know if he can play this season after undergoing surgery on Sept. 23, with recovery typically lasting nine months. That would fall beyond the end of the season. He showed up for each practice anyway, posting videos to his social media of himself working out in the pool, in the gym and he reached a new milestone last month by running on the court.

On Tuesday, Gallinari simply showed up to paint.

He walked comfortably at the Roxbury Tenants of Harvard on Tuesday, where he judged and participated in the Sr. Celtics pain-and-sip event, a partnership with New England Baptist Hospital. He feels content with whatever follows two days before the trade deadline.

“Rehab is going very well. This kind of rehab, you’ve got to take it day-by-day, week-by-week and month-by-month. It’s tough to make predictions on what’s going to happen in two months, four months,” Gallinari told CLNS Media. “But as of now it’s going really good. I’m doing stuff on the court. We’re doing testing every week … how much better you’re getting … comparing one leg to the other … fortunately I’m able to do stuff on the court, which is more fun than the other boring part of the rehab, especially the first few months.”

Gallinari traveled with the Celtics through nearly all their road games, far surpassing the presence of most injured NBA players who separate from their teams while hurt. He appeared at practice last week, juggling rebounds off the wall with each hand, balancing on either leg and running up and down the court, and side to side. The career marksman can also shoot on the floor now, and makes nearly every shot he puts up despite the relatively early stage of his recovery.

He hesitates to draw too optimistic of a timeline though, as he already tore the same ligament early in his career playing for the Nuggets. At 34, with the Celtics fighting for a championship, he understands the reality facing him this season. He still wakes up each morning thinking of the possibility he can return to help in any way as motivation for his daily routine.

“It’s going to take a lot of work, the work I’ve been putting in every day,” Gallinari told CLNS. “It’s a great motivational tool to know I have the chance to be part of something special. Right now, I don’t know if it’s going to happen or if it’s not going to happen. It’s out of my control right now. But it’s something I have in my head and it pushes me every day.”

At the Sr. Celtics event, Gallinari sat amongst the elderly crowd at Roxbury Tenants enjoying beverages and painting a basketball themed portrait. Others in attendance drew the Celtics’ logo, or added their own twist to the design before Leon Powe and Gallinari picked winners, who received autographed balls. It marked another sign of his desire to stay involved, and even touted Powe’s status as a Celtics champion while picking a painting.

The Celtics won’t trade Gallinari unless they find a deal that allows them to upgrade, even if he can’t play this season. They signed him to a two-year, $13.3 million contracts last summer with a second-year option he’ll inevitably pick up.

His $6.5-million salary this year is the most powerful matching contract the team possesses to combine with other players to acquire a higher paid contributor though. Traded to Denver for Carmelo Anthony and Oklahoma City for Paul George earlier in his career, he knows the business, but hadn’t heard anything from the team two days prior to Thursday’s 3 p.m. deadline.

“We haven’t talked about it, about the trade situation,” Gallinari said. “But I’m 34-years-old, I’ve been in the league 15 years, whatever happens happens. It’s out of my control and I’m focusing on my job and taking it day-by-day … if you’re worried too much about what is going to happen, which is out of our control, then you’ll be in trouble. So it’s better not to think about it … everybody knows what an ACL rehab looks like and what I’m doing right now, and what’s the stage of my rehab.”

That’s where he stands, knowing his last shot in the NBA is returning for this team. An unfortunate back story to this Celtics season as their historic offensive start slipped past November due to waning three-point production. And a bad feeling to carry while exploring every deadline possibility.

Boston signed Gallinari hoping to alleviate some of the pressure on Al Horford and Robert Williams III, space the floor for Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum and counter opponent switching. An already difficult decision on Grant Williams’ future could’ve been made easier with certainty Gallinari could fill his role. Above all, this looks like the championship team he signed up for.

The fact that he recovered from similarly devastating circumstances earlier in his career adds to his hope. Even if he needs to watch this year’s title pursuit from the sideline, he proved to his teammates he’s working back as quickly as possible, and showing up to support them in every city. He enjoys the games, the team’s success and visualizes where he might fit in. The time will come, he believes.

“Unfortunately, when I think about my career and I think about the injuries I had, the big injuries always came at the worst time ever,” Gallinari said. “They came when I was a rookie, when you have to come to the league and earn the respect and show everybody what you’re made of and what you’re capable of, then, boom, I have back surgery. Then, in the best time of my career, best time, playing on the best team I ever played on before this team, and best time of my shape, I was in my prime in my third season in Denver, boom, my ACL.”

“A week before playoffs when the team’s doing great and projected to go far in the playoffs. Then, I signed with the Celtics, great team, went to the Finals last year, great goals and great achievements in mind, and boom, ACL comes again. Always at the wrong time and the worst time, but I always came back stronger than before and I’m still playing basketball after 15 years in the league. I’m still here.”