Deron Williams will not travel with Brooklyn for game in London

The NBA’s lone remaining international regular season game (after the San Antonio vs. Minnesota game in Mexico City was canceled due to smoke in the arena) just lost a bit of star power, even if it would have come in the form of a suit sitting behind the bench.

Brooklyn Nets’ point guard Deron Williams will not travel with the team to London for Thursday night’s game against the Atlanta Hawks. The Nets will practice on Tuesday and Wednesday in London, but Williams will not make the trip due to his sprained ankle. Last Monday, Williams received an MRI, followed by cortisone shots and platelet-rich plasma injection in both of his ankles.

The Nets have been starting Alan Anderson in the back court of late. Williams has missed 15 games to this point due to his ankle injury, and despite the absence of their superstar, the Nets have won five of their last six games to pull their record to 15-22 on the season. Not enough to elevate the squad from criticism for being the league’s most disappointing team to this point.

Evidently, the team has rallied around rookie head coach Jason Kidd, who’s job looked to be in a lot of danger as recently as a couple of weeks ago. The team has recently welcomed back forward Andrei Kirilenko from his serious, season-long bout of back spasms.

They have a chance to put a few more wins under their belt, with games against the Knicks, Magic, Boston, and Toronto coming up as a part of their next six contests before a tough stretch that includes Oklahoma City, Indiana, and San Antonio over the course of four games.