Aussies in NBA: Exum returning to full-contact practice

The last time we heard from Dante Exum, he was trading immature jokes with Joe Ingles in an interview which had gone horribly off the rails (and into another, much more entertaining, set of rails). Talk on his recovery from the ACL tear that kept him out for his entire sophomore season, repeated more of the same; upper body work, shooting drills, pretty much everything except for contact drills.

[Read: Exum hopeful of Rio return with Boomers]

Well, that last limiter is coming off soon.

During a recent interview with Believe The Hype, Dante confirmed much of what we already knew about his recovery process, then added a tasty new morsel.

“I’m pretty much in the last part of my rehab, I got an appointment on the 26th that’s going to clear me for everything. But I’ve been pretty much doing a lot of the normal stuff, day-to-day stuff except for playing, that’s the biggest thing I haven’t kind of picked up yet, but starting May 26th I’ll start to play one-one-one, two-on-two and stuff like that," Exum confirmed.

News on his recovery have come in small bits and pieces over the course of the season. Understandably so, given the long-term nature of the rehabilitation process from serious ACL injuries. This just makes this news all the more exciting.

The next big step up in his recovery is just a few short days away! But, the way he puts it, Dante sounds like he has his eye on much bigger things. Namely, playing real games and helping his Utah Jazz team into the playoffs that they so narrowly missed out on this past season.

“I can definitely and honestly say that those last ten games of the season, I really wanted to be out there. As soon as I could start moving and cutting, the competitive nature starts to kick in and you want to get back out on the court.” Exum confessed.

He sounds like he's raring to go. I can't wait to see Dante Exum 2.0 back on the court, swishing threes and dropping guys on the way to the rim!