Nicolas Batum of the Charlotte Hornets is nearing a return to action after missing the past three-and-a-half weeks with a broken left middle finger. Sam Perley of NBA.com had the news, which featured comments from Batum himself:
“It’s been a long process, but we’ve got a great training staff,” said Batum in Perley’s story. “Every day, I’ve been rehabbing and trying to keep working on my cardio. By next week on the trip, I should be back. I wouldn’t say there’s no pain, but it’ll be there for a little while. I’ll have to get comfortable with it.”
Though Batum has been out, he has not been sitting idly by and twiddling his thumbs, according to Perley’s story. Instead, the 30-year-old Frenchman has been studying the team and noticing areas in which he can contribute to the Hornets’ exceedingly young squad:
“Sometimes the good part of injuries is that you can really sit down and watch where we are as a team, a new team, a young team,” Batum said. “Sometimes, I have to get out there and relax everyone a little bit. We’re playing with so much space and pace. We have a lot of guys who can do a lot on the court, that sometimes guys like myself or Marvin can help slow things down. We need that on defense, especially. Talk more and do much more stuff.”
After playing the first 7 seasons of his career with the Portland Trail Blazers, Batum is currently in the final year of his titanic 5-year/$120 million with the Hornets, which he signed in the summer of 2016.
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