Video: Andre Roberson Updates his Status
With the NBA on hiatus, players around the league have an opportunity to get healthy in case the season restarts. One of those players is Andre Roberson of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
I reached out to the Thunder to see where Andre Roberson was in his rehab efforts and haven't heard back. However, Roberson did update his status in an interview with Buffs TV. Roberson says he starts his days sometime after 10 o'clock, he stretches, goes for a run "a mile or two" then comes back to his house to lift weights.
Roberson also says, "I'm kind of past the rehab stage; I'm almost to the point of where I should be playing honestly." He still has to be reevaluated by Thunder medical staff, but "there is light at the end of the tunnel."
Roberson is traveling back and forth between San Antonio and Oklahoma City. He says he was on track to hopefully play a couple of G-League games "cross your fingers" before the NBA shut down in March.
In December, Roberson went to California to work with Olin Simplis, Simplis clients include Nerlens Noel, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Spencer Dinwiddie. Gilgeous-Alexander says that Simplis helped him in dealing with knee pain, which is what Roberson has been facing since rupturing his patellar tendon against the Pistons in 2018.
Roberson came back to Oklahoma City a few weeks ago, he had been working out, but not practicing with the Thunder. Roberson says while the stoppage is giving him time to heal, it's not giving him valuable court time with other players.
Billy Donovan says, "He hasn't had to go over screens; he hasn't had to go in a block out, he hasn't had to drive the ball against contact." Donovan won't take away the hope that Roberson has to get back to playing.
But even if the NBA enacts it's 25-day back to basketball plan, it hard to see Roberson getting the work he needs to be in the rotation, and Donovan will have to decide if he can help the team.
