CLEVELAND (AP) - Mo Williams’ rough offseason got rougher.
Cleveland’s star point guard, who admitted being hurt by LeBron James’ decision to leave the Cavaliers, injured his right groin Friday while playing at the team’s facility and is expected to be limited for several weeks in training camp.
The team said Williams “experienced right groin pain” on Friday during a workout at Cleveland Clinic Courts, the team’s suburban training facility. After being examined by Dr. Richard Parker, Williams underwent an MRI that revealed inflammation but no tear.
Williams will begin immediate rehab and treatment. The Cavaliers, who will open camp on Tuesday without James for the first time in eight seasons, expect Williams to participate in low-impact activities next week but don’t think he’ll be at full speed until mid-October.
It’s been an interesting week for Williams.
On his Twitter account Monday, Williams said he has been troubled by other non-basketball issues.
“This has been the worst time of my life,” he tweeted. “Dealing with family issues and everything with the team has been very hard. The family issues are more important and the team issues just compounded the problems.”
Then, in an interview with Yahoo! Sports, Williams said he was so depressed after James, his superstar teammate for two seasons and close friend, decided to leave as a free agent for the Miami Heat that he considered retirement. Williams said he lost his “love for the game.”
Williams attempted to clarify his remarks on Thursday, saying the story about him retiring was “getting a little out of hand.”
“I was misquoted or misunderstood however u want to put it,” Williams tweeted. “I will clear everything up Monday on media day. I was never considering walking away rt now. And especially because lbj left. It made a good story though. Though u know I will never walk away prematurely before my contract is up.”
New Cavs coach Byron Scott said last week he had had good conversations this summer with Williams and was excited about working with him.
“I think Mo can be an All-Star,” said Scott, who is taking over a team that led the league in wins the past two seasons but failed to win a title. “I like so many things he does, and I’m expecting him to be one of our leader this season.”
James’ departure wasn’t the only major move this summer for the Cavs. In addition to coach Mike Brown being fired and replaced by Scott, general manager Danny Ferry decided not to renew his contract and assistant Chris Grant took over. In addition, assistant GM Lance Blanks left for Phoenix.
Because James gave them little notice before announcing his intentions to leave, the Cavs were unable to do anything in free agency. They did acquire guard Ramon Sessions and center Ryan Hollins from Minnesota.
Williams recently told The Associated Press that he was excited about playing with Sessions, his former teammate with the Milwaukee Bucks, and was looking forward to playing in Scott’s uptempo offense.
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