In a season filled with unfortunate injuries to several key guys, the Chicago Bulls finally caught a break as star guard Coby White is on track to return to action on Thursday against the Houston Rockets.
The rising star suffered a mild hip strain that looked worse than it actually was when Indiana Pacers forward Paskal Siakam landed on White’s back after blocking the latter’s layup attempt. White writhed in agony as his knee twisted at an awkward angle when he bore the weight of Siakam’s body.
Replay looked awful
After attending practice on Wednesday, White spoke to reporters for the first time since the March 13 incident. He said he caught the replay of the play and that it looked “bad,” but he confirmed that he did not suffer any major injuries.
“To me, the replay is bad,” White said.
“But I don’t think it’s that bad to where everybody was making it seem. It was just an awkward landing and he fell on me.”
White credited his offseason work on his flexibility for bailing him out of what could have been a dire situation.
“They say I dodged a bullet. It could’ve been a lot worse. They said I’m pretty flexible and that’s what helped me in that scenario. I’m just glad. I think God was with me at that point and I’m just glad it was nothing serious, nothing more than a strain,” White added.
Silver lining
Although White’s return isn’t certain, the former Tar Heel said his availability for Thursday’s game will depend on how his body feels when he wakes up in the morning.
“Overall, I’m feeling pretty good. We’ll see how (Thursday) goes. When I wake up, see if anything is sore or if I feel anything. Then we’ll go from there,” White remarked.
White added that if there was a silver lining to the injury he suffered, it was that it afforded him some time to rest. Before the injury, White led the league in total minutes played.
“It was good for me. Obviously, I don’t want to miss games. But since it did happen and I was hurt, I wanted to take advantage of this time I had off and recover mentally, physically, emotionally spiritually. To me, I just tried to turn it into a positive,” White quipped.
More must-reads: