“Today was may be my second time going five-on-five since everything happened, so a little bit of heavy legs and lack of conditioning, but that will come back. I’m just glad we got the win.

“A month and a half ago, two months ago, I don’t think I even knew if I was going to be out here, especially this soon. It’s definitely a level of gratefulness and (I’m) just happy to be on the court.”

However, a renal cell carcinoma in his left kidney was found in a post-trade physical which required surgery.

“It was great to see him back out there. The players, they really enjoyed him being there and the things that he can do,” he said. “You can see that he’s dynamic with the basketball. That was just the beginning … He hasn’t played in a long time coming off of surgery. He did a lot of nice things there.”

After the game, when he entered the locker room, his teammates celebrated his return with clapping and shouts of encouragement.

“They were in my ear the whole game, even leading up to the game. I can’t thank those guys enough. It’s going to be a special rest of the season for sure once everybody starts clicking.”