Since entering the NBA in 2007, Wilson Chandler has only played in 82 games one time – during the 2008-09 campaign, his second in the league. That’s not really a big deal as players deal with sprained ankles and other bumps and bruises along the way during long seasons.
In 2008, after his rookie season, Chandler had left ankle surgery a couple times:
On June 3, 2008, Chandler had surgery on his left ankle to remove bone spurs and nine months later he had surgery to remove scar tissue. He recently missed three games with a sore left calf, which could be related to his ankle problems. (Frank Isola, 2011)
We all know about the hip surgery that ended Chandler’s 2011-12 campaign after just eight games (after he returned from China during the 66 game lockout season) and limited him to 43 games last season. With high hopes from Nuggets‘ GM Tim Connelly of Chandler heading into this season and Brian Shaw likely to use him at the starting small forward spot in place of injured Danilo Gallinari, it’s hard to see Chandler already dealing with nagging issues.
He missed both preseason games with a strained hamstring and has yet to return to practice, according to Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Nuggets&src=hash">#Nuggets</a> F Wilson Chandler (hamstring) did not return to practice as expected today.</p>— Chris Dempsey (@dempseypost) <a href="https://twitter.com/dempseypost/statuses/388750173427351552">October 11, 2013</a></blockquote>
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It's no secret around these parts that I too have high hopes for Chandler's game. Nothing can be more frustrating than injuries and I'm sure Chandler is sick of having to deal with set backs when he spent the off-season working his tail off for the upcoming campaign and increased role with the team.
Hopefully he’ll be back soon as the Nuggets next preseason game is set for Monday, Oct. 14th against the Spurs in Denver.
