Danny Granger on his calf injury: ‘It’s no big deal’

Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger doesn’t sound too bummed out about his most recent injury.

Oct 28, 2013, 8:46 PM UTC

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Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger downplayed the severity of his calf strain on Monday. The injury, which will sideline him for the first three weeks of the season, does not seem to be a major disappointment to Granger. He repeatedly described it as "no big deal" and said that he and the team were just being overly cautious because he is coming off a serious knee injury, via the Indianapolis Star's Candace Buckner:

How do you take the announcement today?

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It's no big deal. It's approximately - I think, what is it three weeks? I mean honestly, it could be a week. It's just, we want to give myself some time. Like I said, it's a calf strain. I'd rather (the injury) be that than something else, honestly.

…

How much of a setback is it from the standpoint of just missing time with the team when you had already missed a year with the team?

You know what? Say I miss the full three weeks, you know. OK, I miss seven, eight games. We're looking to play almost 100. We want to play 100, you know. So on the grand scheme of things, it's not really that big of a deal...

Do you think it's a result of the inactivity?

A hundred percent. A hundred percent. I've had other players tell me about it: ‘Look, when you're coming back and you haven't played in a year, not only do you have to get what (you've) injured healthy, but the rest of your body got to get acclimated to doing what you've been doing for the past 10 years.' I took a year off and that's why, in training camp, I got hit once and I had to miss a day because I hit my back. Stuff that just usually don't happen. It's just a matter of getting my body back in shape of taking a pounding.

Granger added that “it’s not discouraging at all” and he could run and jump if he wanted to, but that the training staff wanted to wait until he doesn’t feel the strain at all.

In his most recent preseason game on Oct. 18 against the Bulls, Granger scored 11 points on 4-7 shooting in 16 minutes. On Monday he said he was "feeling great" at that point. While Granger sits out, Lance Stephenson will start at the shooting guard spot. When he returns, it is undetermined whether he will start or come off the bench.