Griffin is at home in Anchorage in Alaska with her family after a hip injury ended her WNBA season with the Connecticut Sun.

Spirit coach Simon Pritchard spoke with Griffin on the weekend and was encouraged by what the two-time WNBL championship forward had to say.

“Kelsey is part-way through her rehab and the plan is for her to resume light jogging on August 5,’’ Pritchard said.

“Everything is going well and she’s on track, but she has to stick with the program her doctors have given her.

“She’s done everything right so far and she’s happy with the way things are going.

“The most important thing is that there’s been no setbacks.”

Griffin is expected to return to Bendigo in early September, but the club won’t be rushing her to be fit for the WNBL season-opener on the second weekend of October.

“When she gets here we will make further assessment, but we will be taking it slowly,’’ Pritchard said.

“If you were really conservative you would think about not having Kelsey do much before Christmas, but I don’t think that will be the case.

“Our physio (Craig Mansfield) might put Kelsey on a minute restriction week-by-week until we’re confident she’s back to full fitness.

“We don’t want to risk Kelsey re-injuring herself and having her on the sidelines. We have Kelsey locked in to a multi-year deal, so we want to look after her.”