I recently visited NBA.com and found out that NBA 2007 #1 draft pick Greg Oden of the Portland TrailBlazers recently had an arthroscopic & microfracture surgery in his right knee. Team doctors had an exploratory arthroscopic surgery and revealed cartilage damage on his right knee. This recent development is a another setback, since he just had a tonsillectomy to have his tonsils removed last July 14 which caused him to miss the USA Senior National Team's mini-cap in Las Vegas in preparation for the FIBA Americas.
Many basketball experts and its fans have compared him to the great Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics since they have similar attributes especially in their defensive approach of the game. Many of us are wondering if this is a case of déjà vu since they had a similar situation when they drafted Sam Bowie during the NBA 1984 draft that included the likes of Akeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley & John Stockton.
Now, many of us might be wondering what is microfracture surgery and how it affects an athlete. Microfracture surgery is an orthopedic surgical technique that can help restore knee cartilage by creating tiny fractures in the adjacent bones, causing new cartilage to develop. It can be used to treat both degenerative knee problems as well as cartilage injuries, and has gained a high profile in the sports world in recent years.
There are several cases of NBA players who had this type of injury like John Stockton, Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway, Chris Webber, Kenyon Martin, Darius Miles & Amare Stoudemire; only John Stockton, Jason Kidd & Amare Stoudemire have regained full health and recovered successfully to their old form. This is a major setback for a franchise which is looking for a new identity and respect in the NBA community since they never had a winning season since the 2002-2003 season.
I personally think they should have taken Kevin Durant for several reasons - he has the potential to blossom into one of the best offensive players in the league. Also, they have several young big men (LaMarcus Aldrige, Channing Frye & Joel Przybilla) to build around; most importantly Kevin Durant is far superior offensively and could still develop his defensive skill set as he matures in the league.
Well, as a basketball fan, I hope the best for Greg Oden and the Portland TrailBlazers. Let us wait and see what the future holds.
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