

The Boston Celtics recently announced that their guard Kemba Walker was going to miss the start of the regular season after receiving a stem cell injection in the left knee.
Walker was placed in a 12-week strengthening program with sources citing his return to take place by mid-January.
Former Celtics center Brian Scalabrine in his appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio voiced his concerns about the same. Scalabrine said, “Anybody you are paying more than $30 million and he is an undersized guy with an injury, you are going to be concerned about.
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“I get it, March 9th or March 11th the pandemic started. Why couldn’t they be pro-active at that point knowing that this thing was going to stretch on for a while?
How concerned should the Celtics be with Kemba Walker's knee?
Frank Isola & Brian Scalabrine give their thoughts on the All-Star guard's injury pic.twitter.com/JdfMsjyRmE
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) December 6, 2020
“Once you start getting the information that you are not going to play anytime soon, why didn’t they take the time to really address this. Then he goes to the Bubble, he clearly isn’t good. That burst was not consistent.”
He added, “Now he’s back and they do the procedure and now they have something else. With the knee and the undersized player it’s always concerning. Undersized player making a ton of money it always becomes a big deal.”
The Celtics will hope that Walker returns to full fitness soon. With one of their scoring options in Hayward already gone, their offense might struggle. One more injury during the start of the season will be tough for the Celtics.
How much will the Boston Celtics miss Kemba Walker?
The Boston Celtics are coming off of a decent season. With the talent that they had, they would have expected to make it to the Finals but fell short.
They added Kemba Walker to form their own version of Big Three with Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum last season. Walker averaged 20.4 points, 4.8 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game and gave an offensive boost to the team.
Celtics will be determined to make a statement from the start of this season, but have a very tough run of fixtures ahead. They start their season against the MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks.

via Getty
CANTON MA. – SEPTEMBER 30: Kemba Walker smiles during an interview at the Boston Celtics Media Day on September 30, 2019 in Canton, MA. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald) ( Photo by Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)
Then the Celtics face off against the Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant led Brooklyn Nets. With the superstar duo in impeccable form, the Nets will arguably be one of the toughest games for them. The Celtics will be butting heads with the Raptors and the Heat.
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All of these fixtures are within the second week of January. The 30-year-old is expected to be fit by mid-January. Considering the opponents, Walker will be an enormous miss for the Celtics.
The 4-time All-Star is the third scoring option for the team. Without him, all the offensive load will be on Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. If the Celtics want a win in any of the 4 fixtures, they will need some big performances from both Brown and Tatum.
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