Doctor reveals last step of De’Anthony Melton’s ACL rehab before Warriors return

ACL recoveries are never easy, as Warriors guard De’Anthony Melton has come to learn in the late stages of his rehab.Melton, who signed with Golden State last week, likely will miss the early portion of the 2025-26 season as he continues his recovery after undergoing surgery last December.Stanford Medicine’s Amy Ladd, M.D., spoke to NBC Sports Bay Area more in-depth about Melton’s injury and why he could be experiencing a delay in his recovery.“ACLs are tricky,” Dr. Ladd said. “The rehab can be dense, it can be difficult or it can be straightforward. I don’t know the details of the surgery he had, but the rehab is critical to recovery. So even if the surgery went perfectly, the rehab means all the demands of a basketball player: cutting, jumping, pressure, agility. “So it may be something as subtle as his training or his cadence is just off, or it could be more serious. But I would assume for now that it’s just a delay in the rehab.”Dr. Ladd anticipates that Melton, about 10 months into his rehab, is at the stage where he’s doing return-to-activity drills, such as cutting, dodging and jumping that test his balance,...