Zach Lavine says ACL injury is in past, he's about future

A promising season ended way too soon for Minnesota Timberwolves guard Zach Lavine this past February when he tore his ACL in a game against the Detroit Pistons.

The injury and subsequent surgery has sidelined him for the rest of the year. He talked about his injury for the first time on Wednesday, saying it’s in the past and he’s about the future.

Lavine was having a breakout season, not just dunks, but shooting and all around play. He was doing so well he declined an invite to defend his title in the dunk contest on All-Star weekend so he could focus on getting his team to the playoffs. 

After the initial disappointment of his torn ACL and the lost half of the season wore off, Lavine did what he always does, bounced into action.

Lavine is with the team daily except for road trips and is seeing the game from a different perspective. While his NBA friends who've gone through the same have helped him, family has been the key

“To tell you the truth, the main thing has been my dad,” Lavine said. “I talk to my dad about everything. He just said take the same approach you have just with basketball in general. You go each offseason extremely hard, you work out [and] you put all your hard work, dedication and focus into something and I should do that with my knee and my leg until it’s 100 percent and then I can move forward from there.”

He says there's no timetable for when he’ll be playing again, but he will be back and will be even better.

“I feel great,” Lavine said. “You know, my mind’s in the right place so we’ll see how that goes. You know when that day comes, I’m a 100 percent when I’m comfortable, you’ll all see Zach back on the court doing what he does.”