Andre Roberson gets standing ovation on first return since 2018 knee injury
By Scott Rogust
Andre Roberson has been on the sidelines for over two years but has finally returned.
The resumption of the 2019-20 NBA season is less than a week away inside the bubble at Walt Disney World. As we all know, Disney is all about making great memories, and that was no different during an NBA scrimmage game.
In Friday’s exhibition against the Boston Celtics, Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan called upon Andre Roberson to check into the contest, who’s been out of action since January 2018 after tearing the patellar tendon in his left knee. As Roberson logged his first official minutes in over two years, his teammates greeted him with a deserved standing ovation.
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Roberson’s long road to recovery
Roberson’s return was long and rather gruesome. During a game against the Detroit Pistons. The swingman was going for an alley-oop dunk but slipped as he stepped inside the paint. After collapsing on the court, Roberson couldn’t put any weight on his leg and could only muster up the strength to crawl.
He was set to return much sooner than now, but he was diagnosed with an avulsion fracture in November 2018 which extended his time away from the game.
The Thunder selected Roberson with the 26th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft via a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Roberson spent his entire career in Oklahoma City, where he averaged 4.6 points and 4.0 rebounds while shooting 53.7 percent from the field.
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With Roberson getting cleared, his magical journey could take a welcome turn in the form of the Thunder competing for the NBA Championship. Given that there’s no home court advantage inside the bubble, you can’t rule it out. You can’t deny that Roberson hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy would be an awesome sight to see.
Welcome back, Andre!