851. This is the number of days between the return of Killian Tillie in the NBA world, with Boston in the Summer League on July 13, and his last game, on March 15, 2022 with the Grizzlies. So that's more than two years without playing! The fault of multiple injuries. So, playing again in the summer league was a great relief.
“I was really happy to be back because I had just come from two and a half years of nothing. I was watching TV. So it was nice to be back,” he confided after his first game with the Celtics. “I know I wasn't good at it, but I don't care. I shot the same shot over and over again and I was happy to be there, to have energy.”
He will finish the Summer League with an average of 8.9 points and 3.8 rebounds in five games, shooting 49% including 41% from 3-point range, with the feeling of having made a big step forward and the desire to continue.
“Just play”, he answers when asked what the future holds for him. “I want to show that I'm healthy. I'm back, I haven't lost anything. I can play, help a team win a title. So I want to be part of a group.”
Warriors and Sixers had their eye on him
Because for almost 30 months, injuries have punctuated his career. Killian Tillie started with a back injury and surgery at the end of the 2021/22 season. Then, before last season, he injured his ankle…
“I had a big summer last year when I got hurt right before training camp, so I was forced to sit out the whole year, doing rehab. I did a lot of rehab, working every day, doing my job, all the routines. I was supposed to do that and I didn’t think about it. I knew if I worked, I was going to come back healthy,” he assures.
And if it was the Celtics who bet on him, the Warriors and the Sixers have shown interest in the former Gonzaga center. Will he have a place on the Boston roster or elsewhere by September or October, before the first games? Answer in the coming weeks.
