Golden State Warriors guard De’Anthony Melton will have knee surgery that will end his season.
The team announced on Wednesday that Melton will soon undergo surgery for a sprained left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) that coach Steve Kerr mentioned is partially torn. Melton, who had missed the last two games, had been thinking about the situation in recent days, according to Kerr.
Tests showed that surgery was the best choice, the Warriors said. Melton, who has also been dealing with a troublesome back, was expected to start alongside Stephen Curry after Klay Thompson left for Dallas.
“It’s obviously terrible news, I feel so bad for De’Anthony, he’s such a perfect fit for us and we were so excited to have him and he was clearly going to be our starter next to Steph,” Kerr said.
“The good news is he’s a young guy and the surgery is pretty routine these days, so he should be able to come back and resume his career really well, but I feel awful for him and bad for us, too.”
The 26-year-old Melton played six games with two starts, averaging 10.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in 20.2 minutes. He also missed five games due to a strained lower back.
“What he was bringing to this team was great so we’ll miss that,” Draymond Green said after Wednesday’s 120-97 win over the Atlanta Hawks.
“But what we’ll miss more is just his presence around, his attitude, his demeanor every single day. Always smiling, never upset about anything, just always bringing great vibes.”
“You hate to see a young guy in a contract year go through this, but I know the imprint he’s already left on this organization. He’ll have an opportunity to come back and hopefully he’ll decide that’s the right thing for him.”
Now, Lindy Waters III—who, like Melton, is known for his strong defense in addition to his scoring—will be a regular starter and scored 10 points in Wednesday’s win.
The Warriors will try different player combinations to find the best lineup moving forward.
“Fortunately we do have a deep team and guys will be ready to step up,” said Kerr, who added that he has been speaking with Melton about his career and upcoming free agency. “There’s been plenty of conversation behind the scenes.
He’s disappointed but he knows this is the right decision. He told me he really spent the last few days trying to wrap his head around it and think about what makes the most sense. This is the right decision, can’t mess around with a partially torn ACL and think that everything’s going to be fine if he just plays through it.”
