Nets' Day'Ron Sharpe feels good, but for now continues rehab on injured knee
Day'Ron Sharpe of the Nets. Credit: Jim McIsaac
As several Nets finished shooting drills at shootaround Tuesday, Day’Ron Sharpe pedaled away on the exercise bike while talking with coach Jacque Vaughn.
Sharpe didn’t travel with the team while recovering from a hyperextended left knee. Sunday was the end of the approximate two-week window for an update, but Sharpe sounded like his return still isn’t close.
“I don’t know yet but I just feel good,” Sharpe said in his first comments since being hurt Jan. 7. “I feel like I’m going in a positive direction.”
The Nets have yet to share progress on Sharpe’s recovery and Tuesday against the Knicks was the sixth straight game he’s missed. The only thing he’s done with his rehab, he said, is on the exercise bike and lifting weights.
Before the injury, he and Mikal Bridges were the only Nets to play in every game this season.
“I’m just trying to get my strength back in my leg,” Sharpe said. “So I’m just trying to get back into the process of being on the court.”
Sharpe was in the middle of a career season, averaging 7.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in 37 games. He’s also second in the NBA in rebounding percentage — the percentage of available rebounds a player grabs while on the floor.
His energy, in addition to his knack for rebounding, made him a valuable part of the second unit and he produced with a career-high six double-doubles.
But with his absence, the Nets have had Nic Claxton play extended minutes while also going small at times. Dorian Finney-Smith has filled in off the bench as a small-ball center.
Sharpe also missed the Nets’ trip to Paris but he was more bothered that he hasn’t been able to get on the court. He’s watched the Nets lose four of the first five games he missed and wished he could have helped in some way.
“I think it’s just been tough overall. I’m a basketball player, I like playing basketball,” Sharpe said. “Not being able to be on the court, just to be able to shoot regular jump shots, stuff like that, just irritates me. Watching the game, too, wanting to play, you know, that type of thing.”
Vaughn said Sunday that Sharpe was missed on the last road trip just for his voice and personality. In the locker room, Sharpe is liable to say something off the wall that can break the tension or have teammates laughing before the game.
The third-year center also took strides improving his body this offseason so he could step into a bigger role. It’s earned respect among teammates and why they’re hopeful he can get back soon.
“I trust in him and I trust our staff to get him right,” Cam Johnson said. “He’s big for what we’ve been doing this year and he’s been playing really well.”
With the Nets playing 10 of their next 11 games at home starting Tuesday, there’s hope that Sharpe’s return will come at Barclays Center. But for now, Sharpe is focusing on being patient until he’s cleared, even if that means spending more time on the bike for now than doing on-court drills.
“I really don’t get hurt that bad so it’s just tough,” he said. “I was playing well so I’m just trying to get back into the flow of things and just start back up where I finished.”
Notes & quotes: Trendon Watford’s layup in the first quarter Sunday against the Clippers helped him cross the 1,000-point mark for his career. The third-year forward had his contract fully guaranteed earlier this month . . . Lonnie Walker IV enters Tuesday second in the NBA in three-point percentage (47.5%) after making 8 of 13 attempts on the Nets’ three-game road trip.
Evan Barnes covers the Nets for Newsday. He previously covered Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
