OAKLAND – Festus Ezeli slowly hobbled out of the weight room, using a crutch under his arm to maintain balance and posture, and soon thereafter pronounced himself ... restless.

The Warriors top backup big man on Thursday made his first in-uniform appearance since undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Feb. 8.

The 6-foot-11 Vanderbilt product will spend the next four weeks in recovery and rehab before being reevaluated sometime in mid-March.

“Actually, it’s probably a little bit ahead of schedule,” Ezeli said. “I’m already walking. And I’ve (progressed) from two crutches to one.”

The defensive-minded Ezeli was having his best season – averaging 7.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 17.8 minutes per game – when the injury occurred after banging knees with a teammate during the Jan. 25 game against San Antonio at Oracle Arena.

With Ezeli sidelined, the bulk of the minutes behind starting center Andrew Bogut will continue to go to offensive-minded Marreese Speights.



