The Adou Thiero knee injury has kept Lakers forward Adou Thiero out of action so far this season, and he has not yet made his season debut. The forward missed the preseason and has not played in the regular season, with left knee swelling given as the reason for his absence. Coach JJ Redick spoke about Thiero on 3 November, and his words gave the latest update on a player who is working back toward playing, without a return date being named.
Adou Thiero knee injury keeps debut on hold
On the Adou Thiero knee injury, Redick said Thiero is trending in the right direction, a phrase that points to progress in his recovery. He also said Thiero has had some live exposures, which suggests he has taken part in live work as part of his return. Redick added that he hoped Thiero would be available by the end of the week, and that the forward is ramping up his workouts. Those three points together form the update given on 3 November.
On the Adou Thiero knee injury, Redick named no return date, and that point matters for how the update should be read. Hope that a player could be available by the end of the week is not the same as a set date for a return, and the coach did not give one. The update instead describes a player moving in the right direction, taking live exposures, and ramping up workouts, with availability by the end of the week held out as a hope rather than a promise.
With the Adou Thiero knee injury, Thiero missed the preseason, and he has not played in the regular season so far. That means his season debut is still to come, and the wait has run through the early part of the season. The left knee swelling is the issue keeping him out, and it is the same knee that caused him trouble during his rookie season, when he missed considerable time with left knee swelling.
Adou Thiero knee injury history from rookie season
The Adou Thiero knee injury history shows that, as a rookie, Thiero missed considerable time with left knee swelling, and he also sprained the medial collateral ligament in his right knee. That right knee sprain kept him out from late December to mid February, a long spell on the sidelines during his first season. The history shows two separate knee problems in his rookie year: swelling in the left knee, and a sprain to the medial collateral ligament in the right knee.
The Adou Thiero knee injury now is a problem in the left knee, the same knee that swelled during his rookie season. The latest update does not link the current swelling to the earlier spell in any wider way, and it stays with the facts of the present absence: he has not made his season debut, he missed the preseason, and he is ramping up workouts. Redick said on 3 November that he is trending in the right direction and has had some live exposures.
G League assignment and Lakers fixtures
After the Adou Thiero knee injury update, on 4 November, the Lakers assigned Thiero to the G League, to the Coachella Valley Lakers. The assignment came a day after Redick gave his update on 3 November, and it puts Thiero with the G League side as he works back. The assignment does not, on its own, give a return date for the Lakers, and Redick had already made clear that no return date had been named.
The Adou Thiero knee injury update sits alongside Lakers fixtures around the update give the context for the week ahead. The Lakers faced the Kings at Sacramento on 4 November, the same day Thiero was assigned to Coachella Valley. The team then host the Trail Blazers on Friday, a home game that falls inside the week Redick spoke about when he said he hoped Thiero would be available by the end of the week.
For now, the position is clear and narrow. Thiero has not made his season debut, he missed the preseason, and he has not played in the regular season. His left knee swelling is the reason given, and his rookie season included considerable time missed with left knee swelling and a right knee medial collateral ligament sprain from late December to mid February. Redick said on 3 November that he is trending in the right direction, that he has had some live exposures, and that he is ramping up workouts, with hope he could be available by the end of the week. No return date was named, and on 4 November he was assigned to the Coachella Valley Lakers in the G League.