Romeo Langford suffered a thumb injury during his lone season at Indiana. But, instead of shutting it down like many top college prospects would've decided to, Langford played through the injury. And it may have cost him a little bit.
Though Langford was still a lottery pick, 14th overall by the Boston Celtics, he could've gone earlier had he not dealt with the injury. The thumb issue impacted his shooting ability, and he only shot 44.5 percent from the field and 27.2 percent from behind the arc.
Even with the slight negative impact that playing had on Langford, he just couldn't bring himself to shut it down, as he didn't want to let down his teammates when he knew he could still play.
“I just couldn’t do that,” Langford said of the option to sit out at the Basketball Hall of Fame's 60 Days of Summer Program. “It was really my decision, I really didn’t talk to anybody else about it, I made it right then and there. I just love the game of basketball so much that I couldn’t just sit there and watch my team play for like three, four months knowing that I’m capable of playing.”
And why was Langford able to play through that injury? He credits his toughness to his father, and his decision to play football.
“That’s like, I guess you could say the toughness that I have, just to be able to play through injury like that,” Langford said. “That’s one thing my dad, growing up, it was one of the reasons he made me play football, so I could get tough and take hits and still be able to play, so that’s just the way I am.”
Boston Celtics
Celtics fans will be happy to have a tough, team-oriented guy like Langford on the squad. He could quickly become a fan favorite if he can improve his shooting ability (which he has been working on with an unorthodox approach during the offseason).
Langford will have a chance to make an impact for the Celtics once he fully recovers from the thumb malady. He did recently give some positive news on the injury, so perhaps fans will get to see him play once the preseason begins.
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