Deron Williams Will Undergo Surgery on Both Ankles

After playing a large part of the 2013-14 season with injured ankles and spending much of the last two years with soreness, Nets point guard Deron Williams has decided to undergo surgery next week. Via ESPN:

“He will have a bone chip removed from his right ankle, and the left ankle will have an arthroscopic cleanout with removal of spurs from both the front and back of the ankle,” team foot and ankle specialist Dr. Martin O’Malley, who will perform the surgery, said in a statement issued by the Nets.

 

Williams has been plagued by persistent ankle injuries for the past two seasons. He has received multiple cortisone shots and platelet-rich plasma injections to ease the pain, but the problem has not gone away. He underwent an MRI on both ankles before visiting with O’Malley.

 

Williams had expected that he would need offseason surgery when he spoke to reporters a week ago.

 

“I feel like I’ve kind of let people down, so I don’t like feeling like that,” Williams said. “I take my job seriously, I work hard in the offseason, I work hard every day. It’s just real frustrating not to be able to play how I’m capable of playing.

 

“I used to step on the court and feel like I was the best player no matter who I played against, so I gotta get back to that. Even if I’m not the best player on the court, I gotta feel like I am.”

 

In January, Williams received a cortisone shot and a PRP injection in both ankles. He then received a cortisone shot and an anti-inflammatory injection prior to Game 7 of the team’s first-round series against the Toronto Raptors. Last season, Williams received three sets of cortisone shots and a PRP injection due to inflammation in both ankles.

“I have been worried about [getting so many cortisone shots],” Williams said with a laugh. “I’ve had a lot.”