Caris LeVert wasn’t preoccupied with thumb in return

Caris LeVert is back on the court for the Brooklyn Nets. He’s not only doing well physically, he’s also in the right frame of mind.

As much as the physical side of an injury is what keeps players off the court for an extended period of time, there’s a mental aspect to it, as well. Players can be back to full strength, but if they aren’t in the right headspace, the individual’s performance could be significantly impacted.

Sometimes, it takes a while for players to regain their confidence once they’ve returned to game action. Because it’s impossible to fully replicate the emotions that run through one’s mind in an actual game.

None of this was a problem for Caris LeVert in his return for the Brooklyn Nets after having missed a month and a half of games due to a thumb injury and surgery.

The third-year guard was on a minute restriction, logging 15:43 of gameplay in Brooklyn’s 121-102 loss to the Toronto Raptors. But he still scored 13 on an efficient 5-for-7 shooting (2-for-2 from three).

The numbers alone display how comfortable LeVert was, so it wasn’t much of a surprise when, after the loss, he told reporters, “I wasn’t really thinking about my thumb at all out there.”

LeVert was wearing a protective shield when he played. But he said he “didn’t feel it at all.” His numbers back that sentiment.

However, there was one area in which LeVert wasn’t satisfied with himself:

Defensive rebounding. I feel like I coulda done a lot better job there. I don’t know, I probably I ended [up] with zero rebounds. I think I coulda done a much better job helping out [with] the rebounding.

The Nets have a plan for LeVert when it comes to his minutes. The guard did not share further details on the matter.