Stoudemire having knee pain, '50-50' on return

KingKong

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Stoudemire having knee pain, '50-50' on return

ESPN.com news services




After sounding optimistic about a March return to the court, Phoenix Suns superstar Amare Stoudemire is hedging his bets about a return at all.
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[SIZE=-2]Stoudemire[/SIZE]

"It's still 50-50," Stoudemire told The Arizona Republic, sounding more discouraged than at any point of his rehabilitation process from an October microfracture procedure on his left knee.
"If I'm not ready, then I'm not ready. Right now, I'm not ready," he told the paper.


Stoudemire has had fluid buildup behind the kneecap, stunting his comeback for the past two weeks.


There's even been thoughts of not returning at all this season, "because every time I play ball one day, the next day I feel a lot of pain, a lot of discomfort" in the right knee, he told The Republic.


"I figured I'd be ready by now," Stoudemire told the paper. "My right knee is hurting more than my left. I think it's just from overcompensating -- a little fluid buildup that's in there. I'm just trying to get that out and get back. Once I get the rest and the treatment, it goes away. Then I have three strong days and it comes back. I haven't played a five-on-five game yet so I haven't put it to the test."


After being cleared by the Suns medical staff, it's now up to Stoudemire to decide when he feels he is able to play games.


"I'm medically cleared as far as the healing process and as far as everything healing up correctly, but as far as pain level and discomfort level in my mind, I'm not really cleared yet," Stoudemire, who said his right knee feels tight and stiff and hurts when his leg is extended, told the paper.


"If it was up to my left knee right now, I probably would've played last week."


Stoudemire said he still feels he has two weeks to a month to come back and will not make a decision until he has four to six consecutive days of "feeling great."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2366370
 
Absolutely horrible. I feel bad for the guy. He doesn't realize as Webber didn't that he won't feel good for at least another year. He's such a young talent. I just hope he can return to the quickness and mobility he had. It would be horrible if he didn't for himself, and for the fans. He was a pleasure to watch play. I know how it is to not be able to do something you love doing on a consistant basis. I played a lot of ball when I was younger until I screwed up my knees. I still play, but if I play one day, I'm hurting for the next day, and have achynes for a weak. It messes up my leg workouts at the gym. Kind of throws the week out of whack. It's frustrating considering I'm only 28
 
DocHolliday said:
Absolutely horrible. I feel bad for the guy. He doesn't realize as Webber didn't that he won't feel good for at least another year. He's such a young talent. I just hope he can return to the quickness and mobility he had. It would be horrible if he didn't for himself, and for the fans. He was a pleasure to watch play. I know how it is to not be able to do something you love doing on a consistant basis. I played a lot of ball when I was younger until I screwed up my knees. I still play, but if I play one day, I'm hurting for the next day, and have achynes for a weak. It messes up my leg workouts at the gym. Kind of throws the week out of whack. It's frustrating considering I'm only 28

I don't think Amare has the same injury as Webber did. But, you never know, he might come back with full force, as I'm hoping he does.
 
I was hoping all along they wouldn't try and bring him back just for the playoffs. Kings fans should know better than anyone else how devastating that can be...

For his sake and the sake of the Suns, I hope they don't let him step on the court in uniform until next season. If his knee is still feeling sore and stiff and painful when extended, the last thing he should do IMHO is try and come back when the demands on him and his knee will be the greatest.
 
I like Amare. But even if this injury isn't as bad as Webber's it's still going to slow him down in comparison to last year. Basketball players after knee injuries, especially those who are athletic are always going to pay the most. I wonder if the Suns got their next McDyess. I hope not though cause Amare is 1 hell of a talent (bad for the Kings of course ^^).
 
KingKong said:
I don't think Amare has the same injury as Webber did. But, you never know, he might come back with full force, as I'm hoping he does.

Not the same exact injury, it was not quite as severe. I don't think he tore all 3 ligaments, but it was the same kind of surgery *Micro Fracture*. So, it will heal in similar time. I mean not just medically healed, but completely rehabilitate and get strong.
 
With the contract he's on and his age, there's no reason to risk throwing it away coming back too soon. He'll probably feel much better, physically and mentally, if he puts his return off until October.
 
Amare's a stud. It sucks to see him go through this, Penny suffered a similar fate. I hope he can make it through this injury. NBA needs these type's of players.
 
He should not come back, I hope he doesnt come back like webber did. He could very well screw his team over that already has a good system.

why would you want to change the system that works?
 
I feel so bad for the guy. He was awesome to watch with all of his high flying dunks and amazing playes. Wow. I hope he comes back to be back to his normal form.

PS: Just wondering, does anyone remember what actually happend to him to get the injury?
 
I think he should just wait till next season to come back. there's no point rushing it and risking further injury and hindering his rehab. I saw him shooting around and stretching when I was in Phl. about 6 weeks ago and he looked pretty good but not ready for the intensity he'll need. I wish him well though and I think him being young will definitely help his progress.
 
Have I mentioned recently that I would sue a doctor for malpractice for even SUGGESTING I have microfracture surgery? Who exactly has it helped? How much worse could these knees possibly have been than those of the legion of gimpy victims of that procedure?

Amare's knee may have been sore. It may have even limited him and shortened his caareer. But it was still his knee. Now his knee is even more sore, and in the process he's had some yahoo wiht a scalpel slice it open, scrape away his cartlidge, shave down the bones on either side, drill holes into the stumps, and then hope that the scar tissue that forms from the mutilation can somehow compensate for what's been done.

In the words of the old philosopher: "SCREW THAT!". I'm quite confident that 50 years from now that particular procedure is going to be one of those that our grandkids will look back on and say "you had them do WHAT??"
 
Bricklayer said:
and in the process he's had some yahoo wiht a scalpel slice it open, scrape away his cartlidge, shave down the bones on either side, drill holes into the stumps, and then hope that the scar tissue that forms from the mutilation can somehow compensate for what's been done.

Well, there's a lovely early morning image.
 
Bricklayer said:
Have I mentioned recently that I would sue a doctor for malpractice for even SUGGESTING I have microfracture surgery? Who exactly has it helped? How much worse could these knees possibly have been than those of the legion of gimpy victims of that procedure?

Amare's knee may have been sore. It may have even limited him and shortened his caareer. But it was still his knee. Now his knee is even more sore, and in the process he's had some yahoo wiht a scalpel slice it open, scrape away his cartlidge, shave down the bones on either side, drill holes into the stumps, and then hope that the scar tissue that forms from the mutilation can somehow compensate for what's been done.

In the words of the old philosopher: "SCREW THAT!". I'm quite confident that 50 years from now that particular procedure is going to be one of those that our grandkids will look back on and say "you had them do WHAT??"

Well what's the alternative? Playing with excruciating pain through the rest of your shortened career? I suppose with this procedure, there is a hope that the pain subsides after a year or more. And look at Webber... he seems to playing pain free right now, and while his age and knees may have robbed him of his athleticism, I'm not sure one can blame the procedure for that. I agree that microfracture surgery sounds and probably is a harrowing procedure to go through, but why then would most athletes opt for it? Seems like the best thing going for Amare right now is his youth.
 
Doug Christie had microfracture surgery back in 1992 and recovered fine. Like Amare of course, he was quite young. Bruce Smith, Dan Marino. I think even Joe Montana had it done (post-football though?) A quick search shows a lot of people have had it done. Not as many come back to be as good as they were before, but would they had they had another procedure done?

I haven't read enough to know what the alternative is to regeneration of cartilidge (and aren't synthetics even more experimental?), and I can only guess that these athletes aren't being forced into their decision...

Actually, I'm curious. Is there a more "traditional" procedure Amare should have taken to get his knee fixed? I know athletes are often looking for the best and quickest way to get back out there... I just had my ACL done, and one of the options was to head over to Europe and have a procedure called SARS done -- a synthetic ligament basically that lets people be back up and running again at a high level within weeks as opposed to a full year. Of course, the procedure hasn't been around long enough to know if the thing lasts 20 or more years, but most athletes don't care. They want to be able to get back out there sooner than later...
 
Kerry Kittles also made it all the way back, though he was no All Star to begin with. Still the list of people who made it back is a LOT shorter than the list of people who didn't. I wonder if having a lighter upper body (Kittles and Christie) makes a difference in less knee impact and greater chance of recovery.

Webber may be playing pain free, but his mobility and jumping ability are clearly not close to what they were. Still, he's a LOT healthier than he was when he was here after the injury.
 
i think it's a silly idea to bring him back this year. even with him, they wouldn't be able to beat the spurs in the playoffs, so why risk it??? let him recover and come back next year. having all that rehab time will do him wonders.
 
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