BRIGHTON – For Daniel Theis, every day brings about a new adventure … and a new wrinkle to his recovery from a torn meniscus injury in March.
The 6-foot-9 forward is back in town, working his way towards one goal which is to be ready to participate in training camp with the Boston Celtics.
“I’m getting there,” Theis told NBC Sports Boston. “I’ve been back two weeks. I’ve been doing new stuff every day.”
Theis recently began doing full-court sprints.
On Wednesday, Theis said he had been working on changing direction and cutting at a higher speed.
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“I’m just happy to be back on the basketball court,” Theis said. “I’ve been working out the whole summer, lifting in the weight room when I wasn’t back home.”
Theis added, “A little bit of running outside. Since I’m back (in Boston) … being on the basketball court doing basketball player stuff; it’s fun. I’m happy now.”
If you’re around Theis for more than five minutes, you’ll realize that he’s in a jovial mood most if not all of the time.
Which is why the torn meniscus injury he suffered was so difficult to deal with.
It did more than just sideline him for an extended period of time.
The injury took away the one joy – basketball – that has been a significant part of his life.
And to be on the bench, watching the team play on without him was a bittersweet time for the 26-year-old Theis.
“First of all, I learned how to be patient,” Theis said. “I wanted to go back on the court so fast. They told me to be patient, you can’t rush the process of healing. I learned that a lot. It was hard watching games on sideline or TV because I wanted to be there. At the end it was so much fun to see those guys, how they played. Every night they give 100 percent whole team, fans, the Celtics organization. Now, I just want to be a big part of this too. I want to be on the court and do the same they did last part of the season and hopefully I can be part of this.”
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Theis said he is looking forward to doing some 1-on-1, 2-on-2 and 5-on-5 work later this month and be ready to play once training camp starts.
“I’m still a little bit away,” Theis said. “Every day they put in new stuff. It’s the day after that’s important to see how my knee reacts. (Wednesday), with more speed. (Thursday) we’ll see how my knee reacts. For now, my knee never reacted bad. My main goal is to be ready for training camp.”