Celtics

How Worried Should We Be About Kemba Walker's Injury?

Feb 13, 2020; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics point guard Kemba Walker (8) reacts during the first half against the Los Angeles Clippers at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Kemba Walker has missed four straight games due to a knee injury, but should we be concerned in the long run?

The Boston Celtics are more than likely just being very cautious with Walker, especially considering they'll want him healthy for the playoffs. And with Jayson Tatum performing like a star recently, there hasn't been a need to rush Walker back into game action.

LIVE stream the Celtics all season and get the latest news and analysis on all of your teams from NBC Sports Boston by downloading the My Teams App.

On this week's Celtics Talk Podcast, A. Sherrod Blakely and Chris Forsberg discuss how worried we should be about Walker's injury, and what his injury means for the Celtics.

Blakely started things off by rating his worry about the injury at a 6-of-10 and said the team is being "ridiculously overly cautious with him."

Six. six because there's still a lot of time. With what they're saying and what I'm seeing, they're being ridiculously overly cautious with him. He's not healthy, but there's certain things they could do if it's game seven to get his ass out there if they really wanted to.

Kemba is at a point in his career where he's not just about to rush his butt out there and play some game in March when he's got a chance to do something he's never done in Charlotte -- win a few games in the playoffs. He's not going to blow that. He knows that this is about making sure he's ready to roll come playoff time.

It would be a bigger problem, I think, if his team was weaker. Because if he's on the bench watching his team get smashed by Utah and Minnesota, he'd be thinking it wouldn't be happening if he was out there.

Click here to listen and subscribe to the Celtics Talk Podcast:

Forsberg echoed the same sentiment as Blakely, but he didn't sound as concerned -- ranking the injury a four on the panic meter.

I'm like a four on the panic meter. When Barstool Greenie tweeted that this is KG [Kevin Garnett] all over again, isn't it --it did make me slightly nervous. It brought back a lot of emotions, but I do think they're just being careful.

Walker is averaging 21.8 points, 5.0 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game, and will be a key piece for the Celtics down the stretch. It's no surprise that he's been held out of game action, they don't want a Kyrie Irving situation where he's ruled out for the season and can't play in the playoffs.

To put it simply, we should only worry if Walker is unable to compete come playoff time.

For more of the Celtics thoughts including thoughts about Jayson Tatum being a top five player in the NBA, check out the latest episode of the Celtics Talk Podcast, available on the NBC Sports Boston Podcast Network and YouTube.

Don't miss NBC Sports Boston's coverage of Rockets-Celtics, which begins Saturday at 7:30 p.m. with Celtics Pregame Live. You can also stream on the MyTeams App.

Copyright NBC Sports Boston
Contact Us