Chauncey Billups has only been back with the Clippers for the team’s last three games, but he’s already sidelined once again due to injury.
Billups went down with a torn Achilles tendon last season, and worked extremely hard to make it back.
But he was forced to sit out of Wednesday night’s home contest against the Mavericks due to an inflamed tendon in his left ankle, a new ailment that is unrelated to his previous injury.
From Melissa Rohlin of the Los Angeles Times:“I just kind of feel like I’ve worked way too hard to get back to play hurt, you know what I’m saying,” Billups said.
Billups, who returned to the court Nov. 28 against Minnesota after recovering from the Achilles’ injury he sustained last February, said that his ankle began bothering him during a game against Utah on Monday.
“Honestly in that Utah game ... it was really painful,” he said.
“I couldn’t really push off of my left foot. It was just really weak. I couldn’t explode off it. I couldn’t cut. Everything I was doing, I was just getting through it. I’m like, ‘I should be better than this.’”
There’s no timetable for Billups to return, and obviously the team isn’t going to rush him back before he’s fully ready.
Billups wasn’t exactly his old self yet in the three games he did play this season, posting averages of just over seven points and two assists per game in 20 minutes of action. He did, however, flop his way to some free throws that were instrumental in the Clippers’ win in Utah on Monday.