One of the major storylines that followed the Boston Celtics around during their run to the 2022 NBA Finals was the health of big man Robert Williams. While Williams played in a career-high 61 games during the regular season and anchored a ferocious Boston defense, meniscus surgery and the subsequent knee issues led to him being touch-and-go throughout the team’s time in the postseason.
Unfortunately for the Celtics, those knee issues are continuing to cause issues for Williams in the lead-up to the 2022-23 campaign, which is going to lead to him going under the knife for an arthroscopic procedure later this week. The news was first reported by Sean Deveney of Heavy and confirmed by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
A source tells @HeavyOnSports that @celtics C Robert Williams will have an arthroscopic procedure on his knee this week.
More:https://t.co/dhHmSq3Gcx— Sean Deveney (@SeanDeveney) September 20, 2022
Boston Celtics center Robert Williams is undergoing arthroscopic procedure on his left knee and is expected to need 4-to-6 weeks for recovery, sources tell ESPN. Williams had meniscus surgery in March and played through the playoffs
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 20, 2022
Robert Williams’ procedure will keep him minimally out of the Celtics training camp and preseason, but the clean up on his left knee is expected to have him back in the lineup early in the regular season, sources said. https://t.co/rG1JN3kOdz pic.twitter.com/our8tdzRB1
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 20, 2022
If there is a silver lining to this for the Celtics, it is that the regular season begins on October 18, which is exactly four weeks from today, and even if he is out the full six weeks, he won’t miss too much time during the year. Still, it’s a tough break for Williams, who earned an All-Defensive Second Team nod for his ability to protect the rim last year and was a crucial part to Boston’s midseason turnaround that made them into one of the best teams in basketball.