Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart will continue to be sidelined with his calf injury for the foreseeable future, as Team USA head coach Gregg Popovich told reporters he is still nursing the injury on a day-to-day basis.
“He’s going to be a day-to-day type of thing,” said Popovich after the team’s practice in Los Angeles, according to John Karalis of MassLive. “Probably won’t practice the next couple of days I wouldn’t think.”
Smart has been suffering from calf tightness through the course of most of USA Basketball's camp, as the team has now switched to practicing at the Los Angeles Lakers practice facility for a few days after the White vs. Blue scrimmage last Friday, which Smart did not partake on.
Team USA will practice on Wednesday and Thursday before taking on the Spanish National team on Friday night in an exhibition — a game that will air on NBA TV at 7 p.m. PT. Smart is unlikely to return in such a short turnaround, likely to miss that friendly game as well.
“Right now, for me, I’m trying to grow as a player… taking those precautions,” Smart said after the injury last week. “Last year, or two or three years ago, I probably would have still been out there trying to fight through it. It’s nothing serious so we just want to make sure it doesn’t turn into anything serious.”
If his injury persists, Smart is in danger of being one of the three men that will be cut through the course of the next two weeks, as Team USA trims the roster from 15 to a final 12 before embarking on trip to China for the FIBA 2019 World Cup.
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