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‘It felt like I got shot’: Landry Shamet makes Knicks debut after gruesome preseason shoulder injury
Kristian Winfield
Landry Shamet has been counting Tuesdays. This one marks 10.
It’s been 10 weeks to the day since Shamet suffered what he called the most significant injury of his six-year NBA career — a career already marked by its share of setbacks. This time, the blow came before the season even started.
The Knicks signed Shamet to a non-guaranteed training camp deal, which he thoroughly outplayed to secure a spot on a Knicks roster with championship aspirations. But just four games into the preseason, Shamet dislocated his right (and shooting) shoulder, leaving the Knicks with no choice but to waive him until he got healthy.
Now healthy, Shamet is back.
The Knicks re-signed the veteran sharpshooter after he completed his rehab stint with their G-League affiliate in Westchester. On Monday night, he made his long-awaited regular-season debut, checking in during the final moments of a blowout win against the Toronto Raptors.
Eighty-four seconds of game time and one shot were all Shamet needed to feel whole again.
“I was so ramped up today, man. I’ve been chomping at the bit for a while,” he said after the game. “It just felt good to be back in the building, be suited up, be with the guys, lock in on the game plan, and be a teammate. I’m just grateful. That felt good to get in the game there at the end and see the first one go.”
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Shoulder injuries are rare in basketball — ankles, knees, and hamstrings tend to bear the brunt of the game. But Shamet’s October injury was as freakish as it gets.
In an Oct. 15 preseason game against the Charlotte Hornets, Shamet swiped at the ball as Moussa Diabate stepped-through the lane for a transition finish. While Shamet successfully knocked the ball free, the effort left him crumpled on the floor, clutching his right shoulder in agony. Precious Achiuwa draped a towel over the visibly dislocated joint as Shamet walked off the court.
“It felt like I got shot. It was very weird,” Shamet recalled on Monday. “The shoulder was different. It was the first time I’ve had something like that. It was the most drastic [injury] I’ve had. So yeah, it was an interesting experience.”
Surgery was an option, but Shamet was fortunate: the severity of the injury didn’t require it.
“Everyone’s different,” he explained. “That same shoulder injury could happen to five other guys, and it could look differently on imaging. With ours, you just kinda gotta pick one or the other and commit to that. You can’t go the rehab route thinking, ‘What if I need surgery?’ So we chose rehab like that was our only option, and here we are.”
Injuries have been a recurring theme in Shamet’s career, but so has resilience. He’s a career 38.4% three-point shooter who has fought through adversity time and again. This latest setback tested his mental fortitude like never before.
“I’m a big believer that circumstances happen for a reason,” Shamet said candidly. “You might not understand why in the moment, but there’s a silver lining to every situation. It really tried me on that belief, and this was good practice on that front. Rehabs are always a roller coaster — good days, bad days — but all things considered, we’re nine weeks removed from that happening, and I feel really good and really grateful to be back with this group.”
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The salary-cap gymnastics were noteworthy. Another Knicks front office collective bargaining agreement masterclass on display at Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks initially signed Shamet to an Exhibit-9 deal — a non-guaranteed training camp contract offering minimal injury protection for the player. He lit it up in the preseason, quickly proving himself as a seamless fit on a Knicks roster with championship aspirations.
And then, disaster struck.
One awkward swipe at the ball in a preseason game left Shamet clutching his limp shoulder in agony, his path to securing a roster spot seemingly derailed. He walked straight to the locker room, his shooting arm immobilized, and the uncertainty surrounding his recovery hung heavy over the team.
The injury was eerily reminiscent of Julius Randle’s shoulder dislocation eight months earlier. The Knicks had hoped Randle could recover without surgery, but complications forced him to the operating room.
The organization couldn’t afford to take a similar gamble with Shamet — not with their cap flexibility already constrained by the second apron hard cap. They needed certainty, and Shamet’s early timeline didn’t provide it.
Yet letting him go outright was equally risky. Shamet had shown in the preseason that he could be one of the league’s best bargains on a minimum deal. Losing him to another team was a possibility the Knicks weren’t willing to entertain.
So, they made the tough decision to waive him, with a plan already in place to bring him back. They used their G-League affiliate, the Westchester Knicks, to monitor his rehab progress, selecting him No. 2 overall in the G-League Draft to keep him within their system.
“It’s definitely different, but I’ll just say it’s the NBA. It’s a business at the end of the day,” Cameron Payne said of Shamet’s unconventional route back to the roster. “I’m glad he stayed locked in, because he got signed back and he was ready.”
The alignment between Shamet and the Knicks was critical. Both sides understood the priority: getting Shamet’s shoulder right first.
“We were clear on just wanting to get me healthy. That was the whole thing,” Shamet said. “I’m grateful to them for extending that sentiment. I could have been completely on my own, but they were ready to help me in every way they could, whatever they could to help get me healthy. So I’m grateful on that front. That builds trust, too. Grateful for the situation. Grateful how it’s played out. Excited to build forward.”
Shamet stayed the course. He cleared each benchmark, eventually taking contact in practices. His shooting touch, he said, came back more quickly than expected despite the injury to his shooting shoulder.
Then came the results: a string of standout performances in the G-League Winter Showcase, including a 12-point outing that showcased his form and readiness.
The Knicks had seen enough. On Sunday, they waived Matt Ryan — who hadn’t cracked the regular rotation — to clear space and bring Shamet back onto the roster.
“Man, that’s a big-time blessing. I’m super proud of him,” Payne said. “I’m glad he stayed locked in on getting better with his shoulder. But I mean, I feel like he stamped himself on this team in the preseason. So I’m super stoked for him.”
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Shamet checked into Monday’s game with 1:24 left in the fourth quarter and the Knicks up 17 on the Raptors. Twenty seconds later, he calmly sank a 13-foot jumper off a Tyler Kolek feed — his first regular-season field goal as a Knick.
“Glad he got a bucket today. Glad he seen it go through. That’s really a huge step just being in the league,” Payne said. “Being hurt, coming back, I know he probably felt like, ‘I wasn’t in, I’m not even on the team,’ and he stayed down, stayed locked in, and that just shows his character. It’s super dope to see him back out there.”
Head coach Tom Thibodeau has often praised Shamet’s playoff pedigree, citing his experience on three different contenders over a six-year career. Now with the Knicks — a fourth playoff-bound team in his seventh season — Shamet’s value is clear.
“Good solid veteran leadership, can play multiple positions,” Thibodeau said. “We thought he had a great training camp. Unfortunately, he got hurt in that last game.”
Thibodeau also highlighted Shamet’s fit as part of a three-guard second unit alongside Payne and Miles McBride, as well as his chemistry with both Payne and Mikal Bridges from their shared time on the 2020 Phoenix Suns.
“He’s been around, he’s played in big games. He knows how to play off people extremely well,” Thibodeau said. “The three-point shooting, he can handle the ball, play off the ball. The versatility with Cam and Deuce — it all fits. I think that Cam and Mikal, along with Landry, were part of a Phoenix team that went deep in the playoffs. So I think that’s a plus as well.”
For Shamet, the journey back has blurred the timelines. The milestones of rehab — when the jumper came back, when he took his first contact drill — have all become part of a singular focus: putting the injury behind him and embracing the game he loves.
“I’ve been counting Tuesdays for the last nine weeks, 10 weeks,” Shamet said. “All in all, I’m happy I’m here, happy the timeline played out how it has, and we’ll keep moving forward.”
