Rashard Lewis tried sitting out. He tried limited minutes. But neither have enabled him to overcome the nagging tendonitis in his right knee.
After 31 games with the Wizards since arriving in December via trade with Orlando that sent Gilbert Arenas to the Magic, Lewis said Thursday that his agent and the Wizards are discussing whether or not he’ll undergo surgery this week that would likely mean the end of his season. A decision is expected today.
“I can’t give them what I want,” said Lewis. “I can’t defend on the court. My reaction is a step slow. My first step, my explosiveness, everything. Even with my jump shot, when I go to squat in my jump shot, I just have no lift in my legs. It’s not only hurting me running up and down the court but my jump shot as well.”
Lewis has averaged 11.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game since the Dec. 18 trade, but after increasing problems with the knee, he missed Washington’s final three games before the NBA All-Star break in the hopes that a two-week absence would allow the knee to calm down. He had 13 points in 32 minutes against Dallas on Saturday, but his minutes dropped to 10 on Monday against Chicago and then to just over five against Golden State on Wednesday.
“Both he and Josh [Howard] right now are on limited minutes,” said Wizards assistant coach Randy Wittman, who is still running the show while head coach Flip Saunders is in Cleveland. “Here of late, they haven’t reached those limits. But we have been in position, the game gets to the point where it did in Chicago, it’s probably better off to not put them back in, let them get the rest that they need. That’s kind of what I felt [on Wednesday]. That’s kind of what I felt with Rashard. We gave him early minutes in the game and then when it came time to go back to him, we were down 20 [points].”
It’s been a downward spiral of a year for Lewis, who began the season in Orlando thinking he’d be part of a playoff team contending for an NBA title. Instead, he’s had to deal with an injured knee that began bothering him even before was traded to Washington, where he was then expected to help turn around the fortunes of a dismal franchise.
“For me, individually, it’s just one of those seasons, it’s not a good season for me, with being traded, the knee has been bothering me, unhealthy, just overall I just feel like – it hasn’t been a good season for me,” said Lewis, who has never been able to hit his stride with the Wizards, in part because similar to the way he plays on the court, he wanted to assess the situation inside the locker room before assuming a leadership role. But as soon as he started to feel comfortable, the knee problem took precedence.
“That’s the thing, when you first come in, you don’t want to jump ahead of yourself, come in talking like you the big man, the big bad wolf in town,” said Lewis. “You kind of, not fit in, but you just sit back and learn and see how guys react to criticism or coaches coaching them or even how coaches react to the players. And then you kind of get a feel for everybody and you dare to speak up. That probably took a good month before I really started talking to guys and speaking up in the locker room, just trying to fit in. The knee was bothering me the whole time, but once I got comfortable, really trying to get into the thick of things, trying to turn things around, my minutes got limited, back to back games is tough for me, I just can’t perform on the court just because the wear and tear of playing for 13 years, and my knee, I just gotta get it cleaned out.”
Lewis is also aware of the perception that a decision to get surgery might cause.
“I don’t want to leave these guys out to dry, leave them hanging with having a tough season,” he said. “When we win, we all win. When we lose, we all lose so I don’t want to make it look like I’m quitting on these guys. That’s why I’ve just been trying to stick it out even though I can’t perform. I’ve just made my presence to help. I don’t want it to seem like I’m folding on these guys. I’m just trying to keep pushing.”
