Thankfully, after what’s been an unimaginably difficult past 12 months for Anderson, he’s back in Pelicans practice gear and expects to be 100 percent around the start of training camp Sept. 29. The 6-foot-9, 240-pounder received clearance last week to return to the hardwood, though he’s a few weeks away from being allowed to play in pickup games, due to the potential short-term risk to his fused herniated disc.
“I can do everything with the guys as far as shooting workouts, drills, weights and conditioning,” Anderson said. “I just can’t play five-on-five or (even) one-on-one basketball. My disc is fused, which is good, but if I take the risk of getting hit too soon, it just wouldn’t be a good thing. I have a few more weeks, so training camp I’ll be ready to go all out. I just can’t wait to play contact basketball again. I can’t wait for that day. Until then I want to build up strength, get stronger and really work on my conditioning, and get back to normal.”
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“Last year was just fun basketball for me,” Anderson said, before alluding to the August 2013 death of his girlfriend, Gia Allemand. “It was a hectic year, just a crazy, nuts, wild summer. Coming back, it really sort of gave me that passion, drive and that love for basketball again, because it was really just a place I could kind of escape to. I was excited to get on the court every day, because it was something that I knew. It’s really the only thing I know. It was really fun to play in those games… I was just really confident. I shot the ball with confidence. My teammates and the coaches gave me a lot of confidence.”
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Ryan Anderson: 'My recovery's been really smooth'
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Originally Posted by RaisingTheBar
