Festus Ezeli’s Not-So-Secret-Anymore New Weapon (Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account)
LAS VEGAS, NV — Golden State Warriors center Festus Ezeli, who has been coming off of knee surgery that forced him to miss the entirety of the 2013-14 season, spoke with LetsGoWarriors.com about his imminent return.
The Warriors had previously announced he was going to start the comeback by playing on the #NBASummerLeague team here in Las Vegas, but those plans were scrapped when the team disclosed that Ezeli had “shin inflammation”.
“They kind of shut me down as kind of a precautionary thing,” Ezeli said at voluntary workouts yesterday at a high school southwest of the Strip, “My knee is all good, finally, so when they finally let me loose, I was in the gym all the time.
“I think I was just overworking. My body wasn’t used to all that work, had a little inflammation in my shin, but yeah, I’m feeling good,” Ezeli added, explaining the shin injury, “I’m close (to 100%).”
Ezeli was working with new assistant coach Ron Adams on jumpers from the free-throw-line extended. A good percentage of Ezeli’s shots went in. Adams has been working with a number of Warriors Summer League players on their shooting strokes.
After Warriors practices late last season, we would often witness Ezeli taking said jumpers:
“Shhhh! Don’t tell nobody! Don’t tell nobody!” Ezeli jokingly whispered, when the subject of his new offensive weapon was broached.
“Nah, yeah, for the whole time I was out and I was rehabbing, that was pretty much the only thing I could do, was shoot. Shoot free throws, shooting,” Ezeli explained, “So I’ve just been working on my touch really with coaches out here and they’re supporting me and they’re teaching me.”
No one has been more frustrated with the speed bumps in his recovery than himself, often taking to Twitter to let those setbacks off his chest.
While he’s structurally ready to go, Ezeli also is not concerned with the path back to full conditioning.
“Once everybody gets into training camp, everybody’s gonna be starting at zero,” Ezeli said, “I’ll still work on my conditiioning. I found a way, if it’s the treadmill, elliptcal, whatever way it is, I find a way to stay in shape. When I get back in time for training camp, I’m still going to be able to go.”
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