Kings star Domantas Sabonis reveals he tried to play through knee injury
Kings center Domantas Sabonis speaks to reporters during Sacramento's postseason press conference on Monday at Golden 1 Center.
Kings star Domantas Sabonis reveals he tried to play through knee injury originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
How you doing?
Good.
Good.
How are you?
Good.
I imagine this has been a season of disappointment for y'all.
for you individually, you know, you can't control injuries, but how does it kinda weigh on you, just the season overall?
it's been tough.
It's definitely been a really tough season for me personally, you know, not being out there with the guys or being a part of the season is definitely new for me.
you know, it started rough.
I, I missed the first game, and then my second game here at home against the Lakers, that's when this injury happened.
And I tried to play through it, until it got to a point where it was either rehab or surgery.
You guys know me, I decided to do rehab and, you know, try and get back to be out there with the guys, and ultimately it led to six more games and then, going for surgery, you know.
So, definitely sad I couldn't be a part of it and, not help in any way I could.
but, you know, on the bright side, surgery went great.
Doctor was very pleased.
Basically will have a, a better knee than I did before, so I'm very happy to hear that.
And, rehab's going really good.
my Wolverine healing powers are starting to kick in, and, I feel like I'm, ahead of schedule, you know, and I'm just really excited, for next season, even though this one just, just finished.
You know, you know, I'll be ready for the start of next season and play at the All-NBA level that everyone here in Sacramento has been used to seeing me play at.
And yeah, I'm gonna work out, work out really hard and, be ready.
In, in, you know, in years past, you might have had an idea of what the future looked like here.
Does this one, as you step into the, your future, at least in terms of a player, as a King, does it, does it feel like you know what that looks like beyond this summer, or, or is there a lot of uncertainty for you?
yeah, you know, there's a lot of uncertainty.
I, I don't know what that feels like.
but I can control, I can control what I can control and is, you know, getting back to that All-NBA player that, that I know I can be.
Hey, Domantas.
Hi.
what went into the decision to wait, and to not have surgery im-immediately, and, and at what point did you just go, "Oh man, this is healing"?
because I love basketball.
I love being here with the team, the fans, the city, you know, playing in front of them.
it just brings me so much joy and, you guys know me, I've played through many injuries and tried to play through them.
I've done it before, thought I could do it again.
but, this time, right before All-Star break, I wanted to check in and see what else I could do to finish the season, and they basically said, "If you're coming here again in that short period of time, it's best you fix it or something worse can happen."
And when you're sitting there watching, how much joy did you get from watching Dylan and watching Max take these, leaps and bounds throughout the season?
a lot of joy, you know.
Especially last game, that was, that was a lot of fun, the last home game.
you know, they're, they're, they're thriving.
They're taking advantage of the opportunity.
they're great human beings, first of all, and, you know, it's showing on the court.
Domantas, just actually picking up off that, you know, when you see the young guys just flourishing and, you know, you see them starting to develop and their progression coming along the way it has, how much, you know, is that enticing for you to, you know, wanna get back out there?
I know you say you love basketball, but- Yeah did that add any extra motivation or incentive when you see the guys rocking like that to get out there and kinda play with them, especially looking for next, quarter?
for sure.
You know, they're playing great.
They're moving the ball.
You know, they're playing two bigs.
You know, it's something I thought I was gonna do this year, you know, but didn't have the chance, so that's all very exciting.
You know, they're playing the right way and, you can see the progress throughout the year, so I only expect bigger things for them next year.
obviously Doug took over, last season, got some good run there, but first full year under him, first year under Scott as well, what's your impressions of the job they did this year?
How much faith do you have in them to continue trending this upwards going forward?
great job.
You know, I mean, there was a lot of things thrown at them this year, you know, especially Doug as a first-time official head coach, you know.
And, he managed it the best way he could, you know, and, all the guys are, are bought in.
They listen to him, you know, and, I'm excited for the future.
Yeah, Domantas.
Zach Levine did, you know, allude to it a little bit though, you know, as far as, you know, the veterans wasn't able to do what they wanted to do.
so I know that's a disappoint-disappointment.
How disappointing was it for you 'cause you weren't able to, you know, step on the floor with Keegan, for one thing, and things like that?
So how much of a disappointment was it for you?
You know, all I wanna do is be on the court, and the fact that I wasn't able to do that and be a part of it and, just like you said, I di- I didn't even get to play with Keegan, you know .
So that's, that's definitely sad.
You know, we definitely have a great, two-man connection game right there and, we definitely worked on things last summer, to try and use it, but, you know, you know, things happen.
Domantas, who have you leaned on during this rehab process?
Feel like everyone.
The vets.
You know, Scott's been great.
just it's my first time being out for so long, you know.
I feel like there's a lot of benefits, you know, being out and really paying attention and dissecting the game, and there's a lot of things I've learned where if I was playing I wouldn't have seen from the outside.
So using that, this summer will definitely help.
The NBA is a business.
Nothing new with that.
Your name's been floated out as a trade possibility during the trade deadline, then heading into the summer.
How do you navigate that?
you know, just, just treat it like I have, you know, every year since I got in the NBA, you know.
I always wanna get better as a player, and no matter where I am, you know.
But I'm very happy here, you all know that.
And, things like this, you know, you just gotta focus on m-my, my knee, my rehab, you know, getting back, to the player I am.
Domantas, obviously once you got hurt, you're locked in on your rehab and everything, but were you able to monitor Max much and, and see his progress?
And if so, what did you see from him this year?
yeah, he's been, he's been great.
You know, his aggressiveness, um-Learning how to play in different situations.
You know, at first he was a lot of pick and roll with, with Russ in the beginning, and then you see him on a three-point line shooting, pump, pump faking, driving, making plays, you know.
So that's the growth you wanna see.
You know, he's proved that he can be an impact in all different areas on the court.
Good morning, Domas.
This time last year you said the team needed a point guard.
Mm-hmm.
That's what you said in the off-season.
I'm curious, besides health, what's your assessment of what the team needs going into this summer?
it's hard this year 'cause, like you said, there's a lot of noise going on, and no one really knows what's gonna happen.
we-- we'll, we'll obviously have a high draft pick, so, you know, that, that also comes into play and, you know, we trust Scott, to do the right thing.
You mentioned some of that noise.
If, you know, if fans, media, if they have a vision of your team that doesn't necessarily, reflect maybe the optimism that you have for your future, what is maybe one thing or two things that you see that maybe they're missing?
The team?
Yeah.
Just so-- Um- In terms of, like, maybe the future with the organization.
It's, it's hard to tell 'cause, like you said, we-- the whole team hasn't played together all year.
even, Hunter, we got him in the deadline, you know, he played, what?
Two games before he got injured.
We have so many pieces, pieces that we've been missing, wings, tall defenders, like, everyone's wanted, but we haven't played together.
So, you know, it's gon- it's tough to evaluate because you have now some pieces that you could use, but we haven't seen it on the court.
Hi, Domas.
You mentioned that there were some benefits that you took away Back here.
Okay.
You took away, from being sidelined.
I'd be curious to know what those benefits are, and what did you learn from being sidelined for majority?
just how the game evolves and changes every year.
There's different trends that go around and how bigs are playing or how bigs are guarding, other stars emerging into the league and how I would have to play against them once I step back on the court.
So, you know, all these little things that it gave me time to watch other games too and really learn.
So, you know, I have a, a little notepad that I write things down, you know, and then go back in summer and, really focus on those things.
