By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
A demanding offseason to cap off the idle 2022-23 season in the NBA, Danilo Gallinari is certainly determined to jump back into the action.
Gallinari, 34, sat out the entire 2022-23 season after suffering a torn ACL in his left knee during Italy’s preparations for the 2022 EuroBasket last September.
A few weeks before the setback, he inked a two-year, 13.3 million dollar contract with the Boston Celtics. However, he did not play for the storied franchise, instead was stuck on the injury list. Moving on from the Italian forward, the Celtics traded him to the Washington Wizards in a three-team deal completed in late June.
“I can’t wait to play against Boston,” he noted in the most recent installment of A Cresta Alta, a podcast managed and presented by himself and his brother, “As soon as the schedule comes out, I will mark the dates of every game against Boston.”
“Joking aside, I am excited. I am ready to start the new season,” he added and updated his status, “I am still in rehab. So, I am not actually ready to play a basketball game. But the goal is to be fully ready to start the training camp.”
Focusing on recovering, Gallinari will not play for Italy in the approaching 2023 FIBA World Cup.
A veteran of 776 appearances in the NBA spreading to the Atlanta Hawks, Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Clippers, and New York Knicks, expands to Washington.
Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL