D'Angelo Russell wants to be 100 percent healthy before he returns to the Los Angeles Lakers' lineup.
Russell underwent a platelet-rich plasma injection in his sore left knee that will keep him out at least two weeks.
"I definitely don't want to force anything," Russell said Saturday at the Lakers' training facility in his first public comments since the injection. "I feel like I've got to be 100 percent perfect before I step back on the floor."
Russell said the left knee had been bothering him off and on since the start of the season.
"I was in a lot of pain, but I knew how to control it," he said. "I knew what not to do. [There are] so many games in this league, so it's hard to stay healthy when you're injured and try to maintain that focus."
He added, "I can't really move the way I want, so when I try to fight it and [do] sharp movements and plant and do stuff like that, it aggravated it."