Miami Heat Point Guard Terry Rozier Cleared From Neck Injury; Ready To Return

Terry Rozier is fully recovered from the neck injury that sidelined him late last season.

On Tuesday, he told reporters he is ready to resume normal basketball activities.

Rozier sat with neck spasms, which caused him to miss the final four games of last regular season. He also missed the two Play-In Tournament games before sitting the opening round playoff series loss to the Boston Celtics. He was one of two starters sidelined in the postseason, joining star forward Jimmy Butler.

“I just feel for Terry,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said at the end of the regular season. “He’s been making a lot of progress. He’s not ready to play in an NBA playoff-level game right now. But I’m encouraged, we’re encouraged. I feel for him. He’s such a competitor. I know how badly he wants to be out here for these kind of moments that I’m talking about. But we’ll continue to treat him and see how he feels.”

The Heat acquired Rozier at the trade deadline last season. He averaged 16.4 points and 4.6 assists in 31 games for the Heat before the injury.

Miami traded one of their available first round selections and Kyle Lowry to the Charlotte Hornets to acquire Rozier. The only other times the Heat parted with first-round selections was to trade for Goran Dragic in 2015 and Jimmy Butler in 2019.

Scott Salomon is a contributor to Inside the Heat. He can be reached at [email protected].

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