Knee Surgery Claims NBA Star

Robert Whaley was already in his uniform, getting ready to warm up for Wednesday night's game, when the Jazz's doctors arrived with some advice: Take it off, and forget about wearing it again for a few weeks.
   The nagging irritation Whaley felt in his right knee was a tear in the medial meniscus cartilage, an MRI revealed Wednesday, and surgery will be required to repair it, shelving the rookie indefinitely.
   "I just can't believe it," the Jazz center said. "It doesn't really hurt. It feels fine. I almost didn't say anything about it."
   Whaley, a second-round draft pick last June, will undergo an arthroscopic procedure today or Friday, the center said before Wednesday's game against Seattle. Doctors will not be able to estimate a recovery time until after repairing the damage, but for a player his size - Whaley is 6-foot-10 and 260 pounds - a return in less than a month appears unlikely.
   Whaley had a similar injury during his brief collegiate stay at Cincinnati, and "they said it would be two or three weeks," he said. "I was back in a few weeks, but it took me the whole year to get back for real."
   The Jazz, who played with only 10 healthy players against Seattle, could recall C.J. Miles from Albuquerque of the NBADL, though Kevin O'Connor said no decision had been made about that. They could also sign a big man to fill his role, but because the Jazz have the maximum 15 players under contract, they would have to cut or trade a player first to make room. "We'll evaluate everything Thursday," said O'Connor, the Jazz's senior vice president of basketball operations.
   Whaley had earned playing time recently, scoring 13 points in his last four games, and Jazz coach Jerry Sloan was optimistic about his prospects for more. "The last few times we've put him out there, he's been ready to play," Sloan said. "He's shown improvement. His concentration has been very good. It's unfortunate for him that something like this would happen."
   Whaley first noticed a strange feeling in his knee on Tuesday, but practiced anyway. He mentioned the condition to the medical staff Wednesday, and they ordered an MRI on the knee as a precaution.
   
   Too early to tell
   
   It's far too early to evaluate Deron Williams and his value as a professional, Sloan said Wednesday in defending his rookie point guard - and his decision to play Keith McLeod and Milt Palacio ahead of him.
   "You can't judge a guy until he's been in the league for three seasons," Sloan said. "So many guys get put into situations where they're thrown out there and play a lot of minutes before they're ready. Guys don't learn what it takes to play that way. Ten years later, they're the same player they were when they started."
   Williams will benefit from "this good opportunity to watch a little bit and see how the game is played," Sloan said. "Players have to learn when they struggle a little bit, how to come to practice and how to get themselves ready."
   
   What's fair is fair
   
   When referee Ron Olesiak hit a target in the stands with a football on Saturday, the Jazz announced that everyone in the Delta Center had won a free ticket to another game. But when fans left the arena, they were given a ticket good for a freebie - but only if the fan bought another ticket, too.
   After a few fans pointed out that what was delivered was different than what was promised, the Jazz decided to honor the announced prize. Ticket stubs from Saturday's game, or the coupons handed out at the door, can now be redeemed for a free upper-bowl ticket to a future game (excluding games with the Spurs, Mavericks or Kings) without any other purchase.
   "We had some people call and inquire about it, and we realized that we had misstated what we were handing out," said Jim Olson, the Jazz's vice president of ticket sales. "So we decided this was the fair thing to do."

Knee Surgery

http://knee-surgery-recovery.blogspot.com/