Mirza Teletovic cleared for basketball related activities

Since late January when Mirza Teletovic was diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs and ruled out for the season, the big Bosnian has been seen working out at the Nets practice facility, both on the court taking shots --hundreds of shots-- and in the weight room, just staying in as good a shape as possible.

He wasn't permitted to resume basketball-related activities with the team. So most fans didn't even think of him as a possibility. That all changed Friday afternoon, when the Nets announced Teletovic has been cleared to return to basketball activities. In fact, he practiced without restriction later Friday.

From Nets General Manager, Billy King:

Mirza has been cleared to resume basketball-related activities.  Mirza will be listed as OUT for games, and if his status changes, we will update at the appropriate time.

And from Nets team physician Dr. Michael Farber:

Over the last three months, Mirza has been closely monitored on blood thinners and follow-up testing has met our expectations.  The most recent bloodwork was normal and Mirza has been cleared to resume all basketball-related activities.

To be clear, no one is saying he's going to play in the post-season...yet  but Teletovic left open the possibility in talking with beat writers after Friday's practice.

Mirza Teletovic said it's a possibility he'll play this series. "It's not up to me," he said coaches/medical staff will decide.

— Andy Vasquez (@andy_vasquez) April 17, 2015

How soon? Stefan Bondy thinks it could be very soon.

Nets being coy about it but definitely left practice with the impression that Mirza will be playing.

— Stefan Bondy (@SBondyNYDN) April 17, 2015

His teammates liked what they saw...

Deron on Mirza Teletovic: "It was great to see him out there. He actually played really well, didn’t miss many shots, that’s for sure."

— Andy Vasquez (@andy_vasquez) April 17, 2015

Bojan Bogdanovic, on how Mirza's shot looks: "Like usual."

— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) April 17, 2015

King certainly left open the possibility when he wrote that there may be "updates." Moreover, the Nets included a statement from the team physician who attended him and supervised his medical treatment.

In 40 games (four starts) this season, Teletovic averaged 8.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 22.3 minutes per game.  He has said that he had felt fatigued even before the night in L.A. when he took himself out of the game and went to a local hospital where he ultimately underwent a cat scan. It was the scan that showed the 6'9" forward had multiple blood clots in both lungs, a potentially life-threatening condition.

On March 1, he tweeted out what some thought was a joke about his return.  It was in response to a NetsDaily injury report.

@NetsDaily @BrooklynNets don't worry give me a month

— Mirza Teletovic (@Teletovic33) March 1, 2015

Now, it looks prophetic.

Teletovic is a restricted free agent this summer. So it wouldn't hurt if he gets time on the court during post-season.

• Nets’ Teletovic takes surprising step toward playoff return - Tim Bontemps - New York Post
• Mirza Teletovic practices for Nets, but return long shot - Andy Vasquez - The Record
• Nets' Teletovic cleared for basketball activities - Mike Mazzeo - ESPN New York
• Nets confident despite their odds against beating the Hawks - Rod Boone - Newsday
• Nets' Mirza Teletovic cleared for basketball activities after blood clots in lungs - Rod Boone - Newsday
• Teletovic cleared to play, could join Nets for playoffs - Stefan Bondy - New York Daily News
• Atlanta mayor disses Brooklyn's bet for Nets-Hawks playoff - Dennis Slattery - New York Daily News
  
• How the Nets Can Tame the High-Flying Hawks - Alex Raskin - Wall Street Journal
• MIRZA TELETOVIC MEDICAL UPDATE (4/17/15) - Brooklyn Nets
• Post-Season Practice Recap (Video) - Lenn Robbins - Brooklyn Nets
• PBT First-Round Playoff Previews: Brooklyn Nets vs. Atlanta Hawks - Brett Pollakoff - NBC Sports