PORTLAND — The call came in for an impromptu 9 p.m. press conference. Couldn’t be good news.
The first name mentioned was Blazers center Greg Oden. These days, that can’t be good news either.
But none of that rendered the information that followed any less cutting: Oden to undergo microfracture surgery on his left knee Friday. Out for the year.
Blazers coach Nate McMillan, team trainer Jay Jensen and general manager Rich Cho all convened at the the Rose Garden media center Wednesday to discuss the injury-prone hoopster’s sudden “defect.” Team president Larry Miller joined the press conference via speakerphone from New York.
Oden, 22, had spent nearly a year rehabilitating a fractured patella he endured in the same knee last December, and appeared to be closing in on a return to the lineup. Two Mondays ago, however, Oden reported pain and swelling in a different part of his knee, which worsened the next day. As a result, Oden had the knee drained before visiting Los Angeles-based orthopedic surgeon Neal -ElAttrache, whom he was scheduled to see anyway.
Because the knee had been drained and the swelling was minimal, ElAttrache didn’t suspect anything unusual. But when the swelling increased upon Oden’s return home, an MRI was ordered.
When Jensen and team doctor Don Roberts saw the results, they knew right away: A chondral defect, which, in this case, essentially means a hole in Oden’s articular cartilage. Jensen said it was completely unrelated to the fractured patella, and while he can’t say for sure what triggered the injury, thinks it might be related to a recent workout in L.A.
“We sat there and it was like being kicked in the stomach,” said Jensen, who likened the cartilage damage to “hitting a nine iron and taking a divot out of the grass.” “We all felt like we’d been told someone close to us had died. We didn’t know what to say. We were shocked.”
The Blazers chose Oden as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft. Due to pervasive health issues, however, the 7-footer has played just 82 of a possible 258 regular-season games. A microfracture surgery on his right knee ended his would-be rookie season before it started. He missed three weeks due to a chipped knee cap suffered in February of 2009, and, as mentioned, was sidelined for most of last year and all 12 games this year because of the fractured patella.
Magnifying Oden’s ills is the fact that Kevin Durant, the Oklahoma City Thunder star chosen directly after him, led the NBA in scoring last year and is tops in the league so far this season. That said, Oden has been productive when capable of playing, averaging 11.1 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks for the Blazers in 21 games last season.
McMillan said Wednesday that Oden was “devastated” about not having the opportunity to play this season; that being so close to returning, and then being informed he’d need surgery absolutely floored him.
“It was like ‘here we go again.’ Really sad to hear that,” McMillan said. “It was shocking news to hear that … It is a challenge and we’re all faced with different challenges throughout our lives. As I told him, he has to stay positive.”
The Blazers opted not to sign Oden to a contract extension this season, which makes him a restricted free agent next year. The Blazers have the option of matching any contract offer another NBA team makes him.
Cho said he expects Oden to be part of the team. And when asked what he needs to see from Oden in order to re-sign him, Cho responded: “I expect him to work hard in his rehab. I saw him work out in Indianapolis, when he came back here he really worked hard. He wants to be a very good player.”
The Blazers have been replete with injuries for the past few years, losing players such as Brandon Roy, Joel Przybilla, Jeff Pendergraph and Nicloas Batum for periods of time. As a result, the team’s medical staff has been the subject of scrutiny as fans wonder if there are more capable hands. Miller, McMillan and Cho all preemptively defended the training staff, asserting to the media that Jensen and others had their full support. Jensen, meanwhile, was fighting back tears for most of the press conference — and when asked if the slew of setbacks have caused him to re-evaluate his approach, he, perhaps surprisingly, said yes.
“Oh, absolutely. Every time something happens with any player… Are you kidding me?” said Jensen, who has been with the team since 1994. “These guys are like our family … we develop a relationship with them. It’s personal … Medicine is not an exact science. There’s all kinds of gray.”
Dr. Richard Steadman will perform the surgery with assistance from Roberts, the Blazers’ doctor, at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic in Vail, Colorado.
When asked if he envisions Oden making a full recovery, Jensen said: “I believe in Greg Oden.”
