Independence: Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving is slowly progressing from knee surgery but as he and the team continue to be cautious with his rehab, no timetable or target date for his return has been set.
Irving underwent surgery on his left knee in June after fracturing his knee cap and was originally expected to miss 3-4 months. He wasn’t able to return to practice until Monday, gradually taking steps to test his repaired knee. On Thursday, he was a full participant in practice, which included 5-on-5 drills, for the first time.
“It’s been great. I think the biggest thing for me is getting over the mental hump of being able to go out there and still compete,” Irving said. “Being out there with my teammates, I’ve kind of been itching for the last few weeks but finally getting my trainers’ clearance as well as our organization to go out there and practice with the guys, have 5-on-5, going up and down, finally being able to hit guys a little bit and have guys hit me. As a competitor, I’ve been itching for that.”
Much of this week has been about Irving again trusting his knee when he runs or lifts for a jumper. Irving will continue to push what his knee goes through in practice, but he and the team are mum on any set target date for his return to game action.
“You’re not getting anything out of me,” Irving said, laughing. “No percentages, no target dates, nothing. I’m feeling good, personally I’m in a great place just being able to go out here and practice with the guys, being able to go up and down continuously, as well.”
One of the reasons he and the team want to continue to progress slowly is that once Irving fully returns to the starting lineup, he doesn’t want to hold back or take a step back. He’ll continue to take it easy, work his way up and when he returns to the floor, he’ll be back every night.
“If I’m putting myself in a position to be out there and I’m 100 percent, then I’m going to go out there and I’m not going to take any extra days off or take a week off just because [we are] erring on the side of being cautious. I don’t believe in that. … There’s no looking back after that. I’m a Ferrari without a review mirror.”
As he put it, he’s climbing the mountain back to getting his knee to 100 percent.
“To climb Mount Everest, man, it’s a frickin’ mountain when you’re injured,” Irving said. “Different base camps like they have on Mount Everest and you go to different base camps and you try to just get to them. Sometimes you’re going to fall down the mountain and sometimes you’re going to get even further on a day.
“This past week has been the biggest steps I’ve taken mentally and physically to being out there and being ready to be out there with my guys.”
Iman Shumpert, recovering from wrist surgery, also returned to practice Thursday and has been rehabbing along with Irving.
“He’s one of my best friends so being injured with him has allowed it to go a lot quicker than if I was with anybody else just because we understand our presence on the team and what we bring to the team,” Irving said. “When we get back, we call ourselves the Hardy Brothers. We’re coming full attack like the Hardy Brothers back in WWF [World Wrestling Federation].”
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RyanLewisABJ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RyanLewisABJ