February 4, 2010
NBA- Knee surgery leaves Chris Paul out for at least a month
By Audrey Nolan
New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul will be off the basketball courts for an indefinite period of time after suffering a knee injury last Wednesday during a game against the Golden State Warriors. The injury only worsened during Friday’s game against the Chicago Bulls, when the player hit a camera after chasing the ball out-of-bounds in an errant pass.
Paul missed Saturday’s game against he Memphis Grizzlies because of discomfort in his knee; he was waiting to be examined by a doctor.
The injury was examined by a specialist, who said that Paul had torn the cartilage in his left knee and would be submitted to arthroscopic surgery as soon as possible to repair the damage. According to sources close to the player, Paul will be out for at least one month.
Initially, the Hornets thought that Paul was only suffering from bruising in his knee; however, an MRI on Monday revealed that he had more damage than expected. The Hornets have since them refused to confirm or deny the diagnosis, but apparently the player is to have surgery on Thursday. Dr. James Andrews was selected to perform the surgery in Florida.
"We are anticipating a very successful process," Hornets coach and GM Jeff Bower said Wednesday. "We look forward to his return to action at some point later on. The time frame will be determined after the surgery. I won't speculate on that."
In the first reports of the injury, it was unclear how much game time Paul would be missing. Since then, however, it has become clear that the player would be out for a month, including the All Star game held on February 14th, for which he was scheduled to play.
NBA Commissioner David Stern announced that Paul’s replacement would be Denver Nuggets point guard Chauncey Billups, who was first named as a reserve in the Western Conferences roster.
Coach Bower stated that it would be difficult to replace Paul, since he was one of the best players on the team. His substitute will be Darren Collison, who has been doing very well in the position. The Hornets defeated the Grizzlies in overtime on Saturday without Paul and set a home-winning streak of 11 games. Collison scored 17 points during the game.
"[Collison's] effort was terrific with his own play and how his effort created things for others," Bower said.
Paul has a strong record, adding an average of 20.4 points per game – the highest in his team – and 11.2 assists per game – an NBA best. He finished fifth last season, and was a runner-up for league MVP in the 2007-2008 season, just behind Kobe Bryant of the LA Lakers.
About the Author
Audrey Nolan is a top senior copy writer on NBA games and sports action for the online sports betting site: http://www.instantactionsports.com
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