Cleanthony Early Returned for the First Time Since Being Shot and Robbed
By William Lee
New York Knicks forward Cleanthony Early returned for the first time since being shot and robbed. Monday he was sent down to the NBA Development League.
With 19.3 seconds remaining in the first half in a utterly unwatchable game Sunday night, New York Knicks forward Cleanthony Early took a huge step in reclaiming back his life. Only replacing Arron Afflalo for a few moment, but to Early it meant so much more.
Making his first return to an NBA game since he was shot and robbed outside of a strip club on December 30, 2015. The initial timetable for Early’s recovery was two to three months from the gun-shot wound to his right knee, and he was expected to return to action in March.
And that is exactly what Early did, which is amazing to see considering the circumstances. Making his return after having such a traumatic incident really gave Early a new outlook on life, as per Al Iannazzone of Newsday.
"“I’m very fortunate,”“You just go through certain experiences, certain adversities, certain trials. Just keep your head up, get smarter, work harder and just learn from the past.”"
Early was grateful for having the opportunity to return to the court Sunday night.
"“It felt great,”“It felt real good, especially after the incident. Just trying to get back out there and do what I do.”“It means a lot. It means a lot to just get a chance to be out there and play basketball, help your teammates do something.”"
Most importantly, Early said that he is 100 percent health-wise now, and that the only thing holding him back is getting back into game-shape.
"“I’m doing pretty good,”“As far as the wound and the injuries, I’m pretty much 100 percent. Just got to get my conditioning back up.”"
However despite Early saying that he was 100 percent, interim head coach Kurt Rambis hinted that Early’s road back to having a productive NBA career only just started. That the road ahead might be a lot more rocky, mentally.
"“He’s had to go through the mental trauma of this situation,”“Any time you go through an injury, there’s the physical recovery but then there’s also the mental recovery where you learn to trust whatever was injured. When you look back on it, the biggest part of it is just how fortunate he was that something more disastrous didn’t happen, especially when you look at what could have happened with his knee. It could have caused more significant damage than it did, so he’s very fortunate, and he knows that and he understands that.”"
Monday morning the New York Knicks assigned Early down to the Development League.
With minutes scarce on the main roster, the assignment to the Westchester Knicks will allot Early minutes to both physically and mentally get back in game-shape. With Westchester, Early can freely test the strength of his knee without hurting the New York Knicks (not that it would be much of a difference, as the main roster is a dumpster fire anyways…).
Next: Jose Calderon Open to Backup Role
Early in his sophomore year with New York and was averaging .7 points in 3.4 minutes per game before the horrific shooting. I think I speak for everyone, when I say that we are all hoping for Early to return to form and for him to put this terrifying incident behind him.