After being sidelined for 10 months, excluding a brief stint in preseason play, Detroit Pistons guard Jaden Ivey made his regular-season debut against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday.
Ivey, 23, first suffered a fibula fracture against the Orlando Magic on Jan. 1, and later underwent an arthroscopic surgery to relieve discomfort in his right knee on Oct. 16. Ivey will come off the bench in his return as Duncan Robinson remains in the Pistons’ starting backcourt alongside Cade Cunningham.
Regardless of how much Ivey plays in his debut, Detroit (13-2) is without a doubt glad to have him back in the fold.
“All of his teammates are excited,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said pregame. “He’s excited, obviously. Just the journey that he’s been on to get to this point. It’s been a struggle, it’s frustrating, it’s emotional, it’s all those things. But you watch the way that he approached the work, and he put himself in position to come back even stronger than when he left.
“Obviously, those things will take some time for him to just get comfortable, (for) his load to increase, minutes to increase in all those things. But his teammates, him and us as coaches, couldn’t be more excited for a guy who deserves it.”
Ivey was all smiles at Detroit’s shootaround this morning at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and for good reason. He’ll finally be back in action, gradually looking to build on what were his career numbers during his 30-game campaign last season.
He averaged 17.6 points on 46 percent and 40.9 percent from 3-point range, 4.1 rebound and 4.0 assists per game. His points, field-goal percentage, 3-point percentage and rebounds were all career highs. Bickerstaff has been building Ivey up mentally throughout his recovery and has encouraged the fourth-year guard to simply be himself.
“We just had conversations all the time,” Bickerstaff said. “The conversations don’t stop and start when guys are available to play. The conversations are (continuing) through this whole process and letting (Ivey) know his value to us, and letting him know his worth to us.
“And then, no matter what the outside noise is, he’s just got to be himself. And he’s proven that when he’s himself, that’s good enough. So, you know, go out, play freely, don’t overthink it. Just have fun at the end of the day. Embrace your teammates, embrace the competition, but don’t overthink what you need to do. Because his best is good enough.”