Jose Calderon expressed major doubt he’ll be back this season after once vowing to return from a strained Achilles.
Calderon, who first injured the tendon in Boston on Feb. 25, missed his 16th straight game Friday against Boston, as the Knicks fell 96-92. Calderon underwent a platelet-rich plasma, blood-spinning procedure Monday because the strain wasn’t healing. In doing so, he didn’t help his chances of returning. He needs to be in a walking boot for 10 more days. At that juncture, only one week will be left to the season, and he still would need to get back into game shape.
“We got to be honest with this — it’s not a lot of chances,’’ Calderon said. “After the boot is off, we’ll have to make another decision.’’
Calderon agreed it’s a long shot. The Spanish point guard desperately wanted to make his return to try to end the miserable first season in New York on a positive note. In fact, Calderon was furious at a headline that suggested his season could be over after the Feb. 25 game in Boston.
“To play again, I don’t think it’s a good chance,’’ Calderon said. “It’s a totally different picture now.’’
There is also a possibility Knicks president Phil Jackson will use the stretch provision on Calderon this summer, waiving him and having his remaining money owed be spread across four years. That would save the Knicks on the 2015 salary cap.
Calderon said the healing process was so slow, doctors recommended getting blood into the tendon to speed it up.
“It was going slowly slower than we thought,’’ Calderon said. “We couldn’t get it right. The best thing from the doctors, they advised me to do that. In the tendon, sometimes blood is not in attendance and needs help in there.’’
Carmelo Anthony, rehabbing from surgery to repair a torn patellar tendon, was seen on the court two hours before tip-off doing stretching exercises. Anthony hasn’t spoken to the media since the surgery.