With the Nets in Limbo, Caris LeVert Returns Right on Time

Said LeVert: “I’m a competitor. I want to play. But I trust the coaches and the staff. There’s always another game.”

The Nets, at 16-20, have a little more than half of their season left, and perhaps more if they can stay in position for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They are in eighth place with 46 games to go and no clear return date for their best player, Kyrie Irving, who has been out since November with an injured shoulder. The teams just below the Nets in the standings — the Charlotte Hornets and the Detroit Pistons — also have problems to sort out.

“There’s no pressure at all,” LeVert said. “I just have a lot of fun playing the game. It always sucks to go out with an injury, but being back just gives me so much joy. I feel like I’m right where I used to be — it’s just about knocking some of the rust off.”

LeVert’s significant injury history led to his falling to the Nets as the 20th overall selection in the 2016 draft, three months after he had a foot operation. Injuries have plagued him ever since. He dislocated his right foot in November 2018 in what at first looked like a gruesome end to his season, but he returned three months later. Over the last two seasons, LeVert has missed a combined 67 games.

When healthy, though, LeVert is a difference-maker, because he can create his own shot, defend on the perimeter and facilitate an offense — especially with the often-anemic second unit. He had a breakthrough performance in the first round of the playoffs last season against the Philadelphia 76ers, averaging 21 points on 49.3 percent shooting.

LeVert, who has signed a three-year, $52.5 million extension with the Nets that begins next season, was averaging 16.8 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists per game this season before getting hurt again.

LeVert said his thumb had actually been bothering him since he “banged it in training camp” before the start of last season. He played through the pain before disaster struck on Nov. 10 in Phoenix, where he jammed the thumb on a back cut.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/sports/nets-injuries-caris-levert.html?emc=rss&partner=rss