Jeremy Papasso / Staff Photographer)
The brace protecting the latest injury to Dallas Walton's troublesome knees is a hefty one, possibly large enough to encase the entire leg of the more diminutive among Colorado Buffaloes fans.
The heavy burden that brace is carrying is equal parts physical and theoretical.
Last October, Walton suffered a torn ACL in his right knee, robbing the Buffaloes of a 7-footer who, at the very least, would have formed a formidable defensive tandem in the paint alongside small forward Tyler Bey. Walton could only watch as his teammates struggled, then surged, through a 2018-19 season that eventually ended in the quarterfinals of the NIT.