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As a variety of writers informed me afterward, this has become D-Will's stock answer to inquiries about the state of his ankles. He clearly doesn't want to repeatedly address the recent platelet-rich plasma therapy and cortisone shots that have him moving so much better since the break. Or the 10 to 15 pounds he has shed, according to one source's estimate, in a concerted effort to slim down that was kick-started by a three-day juice cleanse. ESPN.com

Brooklyn Nets, Deron Williams 

Deron Williams predicted that the warm reception he’s received at American Airlines Center the past seven seasons would stop, given his decision last summer not to sign with his hometown Mavericks. He was mostly, correct, although there were some cheers mixed with mostly boos. “It wasn’t bad,” he said. “I thought I was going to get a little more boos, but it wasn’t bad. I think I had a lot of people there, so most of those cheers were from them.” Dallas Morning News

Dallas Mavericks, Brooklyn Nets, Deron Williams 

On this night, many of the boos turned to oohs as Williams erupted for 26 of his 31 points in the second half. “For whatever reason, I just got hot in that second half, hit a couple of shots and started feeling it,” he said. “When you’re feeling good, you feel like you can’t miss. I looked over at my bench and saw that excitement.” Dallas Morning News

Dallas Mavericks, Brooklyn Nets, Deron Williams 

Marc Stein: D-Will keeps refusing to address how much healthier he feels than he did before All-Star break but he's clearly in better place physically Twitter @ESPNSteinLine

Brooklyn Nets, Deron Williams, Injuries 

The event at Brooklyn Bowl drew Deron Williams, Brook Lopez, Andray Blatche, Joe Johnson and Gerald Wallace. All seemed to have a good time, even though D-Will did compare Kris Humphries to a "robot" ... and then thought better of it. NetsDaily

Brooklyn Nets, Joe Johnson, Gerald Wallace, Andray Blatche, Kris Humphries, Deron Williams, Brook Lopez 

Introspective DWill on leadership and difference between sad Deron (unhealthy, bad body language, shooting poorly) and happy Deron (pain-free, All-Star form, inspiring leader). "In the beginning of the season when I was playing bad it’s hard to – I don’t want to say sorry for myself, but not be down on myself. Keith (Bogans) was telling me all the time you’re being too hard on yourself, you’re beating yourself up, because I feel like I’m letting people down, letting the team down, letting fans down, because I’m feeling bad. So that was the biggest thing for me. It wasn’t not trying to be a leader, it was just staying positive about myself, which I think my teammates know that I’m not healthy and then they see me kind of being down, not that I’m down on them, but I’m down on myself. But then it can have that reaction where it trickles down. Sulia

Brooklyn Nets, Deron Williams 

“I still was trying to be positive to everybody. I think it was just my body language on the court because I just couldn’t do what I wanted to do. So it just looks like -- I heard people say you know, ‘I look disinterested.’ I’m not disinterested. I’ve never wanted to play bad. I’ve never wanted to miss shots. I just couldn’t make shots. And I had to hear about it everyday from you guys.” Sulia

Brooklyn Nets, Deron Williams 

Williams said it wasn't the pressure of the new contract or the extra attention of the bigger market. It was all about the pain in his ankles, which has been reduced dramatically since latest round of injections. "From walking from here to that lockerroom felt like shit. It felt like shit," he said. "What do you not understand? I could not walk. I could not walk up my stairs without it killing me. It would take me 10 minutes to get up my stairs, especially in the morning. I feel totally different right now. I feel like I have a whole new energy. Right before the shots. The San Antonio game (before the All-Star break) was kind of like the last straw. I felt like I was hurting the team even being out there playing the way I was." Sulia

Brooklyn Nets, Deron Williams 

Talking about the Nets "Big Three" of Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez, Carlesimo said they are a "big plus in us attracting whoever it may be, in a trade, a free agent signing, whatever it is, whatever Billy King and Mikhail Prokhorov figure out, the direction we're going to go, I think these guys know they're part of the reason and ... they accept it and they embrace it." He explained, "Players are going to say, they want to play with Deron and Joe and Brook Lopez, that they got something good going in there. We saw what happened in Miami. We see what is kind of a trend in the league right now of the better players wanting to go where the other good players are, even if they get a little bit less attention, sometimes even a little less money. It's about rings and I think that's going to be very, very important for us going forward." NetsDaily

Brooklyn Nets, Free Agency, Joe Johnson, Mikhail Prokhorov, Deron Williams, Billy King, Brook Lopez 

"My ankles don't hurt," Williams said Tuesday. "We finally got the injections in the right spot, and they feel a little bit better. I can actually walk up and down stairs and run around with my kids. I can go to the playground with them. I don't have to hurt every time I take a single step. So, yeah, I feel a lot better. I can dunk." ESPN.com

Brooklyn Nets, Deron Williams 

Deron Williams said he talked to long-winded PJ Carlesimo about shortening halftime speeches “so we’d have a little more time to get warmed up.” “It didn’t really work,” Williams said. “I just think it’s a mentality. Teams come out and I think they know we’ve struggled in thrid quarters and they come at us a little bit tougher and we’ve gotta do a better job of responding and fighting back.” New York Daily News

Brooklyn Nets, Deron Williams 

Last summer, when Deron Williams was the NBA’s biggest free agent, P.J. Carlesimo, then a Nets assistant coach, had some fears that the star point guard was going to leave the Nets for the Mavericks. Carlesimo, now the interim head coach, believed Dallas was a legitimate and logical suitor for Williams. “I was always worried, just because that’s my nature. Until he re-signed, I was concerned,” Carlesimo said yesterday. “Yeah, clearly being from Dallas and Dallas having a pretty good roster — they won the championship a couple years ago — I thought it was a viable option.” New York Post

Dallas Mavericks, Brooklyn Nets, Deron Williams 

It is believed in some Team USA circles that Deron Williams has played himself out of contention for the 2016 team, while Dwight Howard is viewed as a 50-50 proposition for Rio. But come to think of it, if Colangelo wants Howard in the mix, it's hard to think of a coach more capable of handling the drama that comes along with him than Rivers. It's just one of many factors that would make him ideal for the job. CBSSports.com

Los Angeles Lakers, Brooklyn Nets, Dwight Howard, Deron Williams, USA Basketball, Brazil, Olympics 

Brooklyn Nets point guard Deron Williams said his left calf feels "good" and he'll be ready to go for Tuesday night's game in New Orleans. Williams suffered a left calf contusion in the final seconds of Sunday's loss to Memphis. He missed Brooklyn's two games before the All-Star break due to inflammation in both of his ankles. Since then, Williams is averaging 20.3 points and 8.5 assists and shooting 44.3 percent from the field -- 52 percent from 3-point range. "I feel better," he said. "I feel like the break helped and the (cortisone) shots helped and it's been a positive effect, and hopefully it continues to get better." Williams is shooting just 31.9 percent in the fourth quarter this season. He was more aggressive Sunday night, scoring eight points in the final period. "It's not like I haven't wanted to be aggressive, it's just like my ankles wear down quarter by quarter and toward the end of the game, it's like I have no lift," Williams said. "Now that they're feeling better, I'm just gonna try to keep attacking and keep the pressure on." ESPN.com

Brooklyn Nets, Deron Williams, Injuries 

Brooklyn Nets point guard Deron Williams felt he was fouled by Memphis Grizzlies guard Tony Allen late in the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s 76-72 loss at Barclays Center. With 26 seconds left and the game tied at 72, Williams drove the lane and attempted a layup, but was blocked by Allen. Williams said he suffered a left calf contusion on the play when he was “kicked or kneed.” “I definitely thought I got fouled, but they didn’t call it so I guess I didn’t,” said Williams, who finished 24 points -- eight of them in the final period -- along with four assists, four rebounds and three steals in 42 minutes. ESPN.com

Memphis Grizzlies, Brooklyn Nets, Deron Williams, Referees 

The point guard revealed Friday that the cortisone shots Thursday were the third of such treatments since training camp started. He also plans to have another round of injections before the playoffs start. Still, Williams understands that the only real cure is rest – even though his competitive side won’t allow it to last very long. He took off more than a week after getting PRP injections in his ankles before the All-Star break. “I don’t want to (take a month off),” he said. “I’ve gotten frustrated some nights where I can’t do anything, can’t go anywhere, it’s frustrating and that’s how you want to think, but I can’t do that.” “It’s tough because we’re in a position where we are right now in the polls we lose a couple games we slip to sixth or seventh. We win a couple and we’re up to second so I need to be out there as much as possible. That’s what my focus is and I’ll continue doing things in the training room and the weight room just to stay as healthy and fresh as possible. We haven’t been practicing that much any way so it’s not like that’s where it’s hurting.” New York Daily News

Brooklyn Nets, Deron Williams, Injuries 

Alex Raskin: Deron Williams also denied being out of shape at the Olympics. Said he was in the gym all summer. #Nets Twitter @alexraskinNYC

Brooklyn Nets, Deron Williams, Injuries 

Brooklyn Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo admitted that Deron Williams is going to be playing at less than full strength for the rest of the season. "He's not gonna be 100 percent," Carlesimo said during a Thursday interview on ESPN New York 98.7 with Mike Lupica. "The reality is he's not gonna be 100 percent this year, and I think that's the thing that a lot of people are having difficult grasping. "He's playing dinged up. His ankles are not good at all. And that wrist has been a problem for him all year." ESPN.com

Brooklyn Nets, Deron Williams, Injuries 

Nets point guard Deron Williams said after Wednesday night's 97-94 win over the Bucks that he will be getting a cortisone shot in each of his ankles Thursday, a continuation of the plasma rich platelet treatment he received on them last week. "Pretty good. I felt pretty good," Williams said after scoring 23 points to go along with eight assists in Wednesday's win. "I’m actually going to get cortisone shots tomorrow. I never got the cortisone shots. "They didn’t want to do them at the same time, because you want to see what the PRP does, and then from there you have the cortisone to just calm everything down. That will be another big plus for me." New York Post

Brooklyn Nets, Deron Williams, Injuries 

"Everybody else has problems with Deron. I don't have any problems with Deron Williams," Carlesimo said. "I love Deron Williams and he's a great player. I'm a little bit befuddled at everything that's being made. He's a pretty good player. I don't have the problem with him that everybody else has or seems to have. I don't know what everyone else is looking at." ESPN.com

Brooklyn Nets, Deron Williams