Denton: Nelson’s Road to Recovery
By John Denton
November 17, 2009
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO – As he so often has throughout his career, Jameer Nelson played through the pain in his left knee Monday night and not only did he never consider coming out of the game, but he also never considered that he might have a serious injury.
But the Orlando Magic’s all-star point guard knew right away when he awoke Tuesday morning that something was definitely wrong with his knee.
A Magnetic Resonance Imaging test later on Tuesday revealed torn meniscus in the knee, an injury that will require arthroscopic surgery today. Nelson is expected to miss four to six weeks following the surgery.
``I have no idea how it happened, but I just kept playing on it in the game,’’ Nelson said on Tuesday. ``I played through the pain and I didn’t really notice the swelling until after the game. I just thought that I sprained my knee and would deal with it in treatment. But as soon as I woke up (on Tuesday) I knew that it was worse than I thought.’’
Nelson missed a major chunk of last season after tearing the labrum in his right shoulder, but he returned six weeks ahead of schedule and played in the NBA Finals. He worked throughout the summer to regain his all-star form and came out of Monday’s victory averaging 13.7 points and a team-high 5.5 assists per game.
Veteran point guard Jason Williams will start Wednesday night when the Magic (8-3) host the Oklahoma City Thunder. Anthony Johnson, who has played sparingly this season, will be the back-up at point guard.
The Magic have been hit particularly hard with injury, illness and suspension so far this season. Monday’s game was the first one all season that Orlando had its projected starting five of Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, Vince Carter, Mickael Pietrus and Nelson on the floor together. That will change now with Williams in place of Nelson.
``Really, it could have been a lot worse. You never want to be injured, but I keep telling myself that it’s still early in the season,’’ Nelson said. ``Things happen for a reason, but I haven’t figured out what the reason is for this yet. I just informed Rashard about my knee a few minutes ago and he was just saying how we can’t catch a break right now as a team. I just told him and the other guys that things like this happen and we’ll weather the storm just fine.’’
Nelson said he has the utmost confidence that the Magic will function just fine with Williams and Johnson running the team from the point. Williams, an 11-year NBA veteran, has averaged 5.4 points and 4.0 assists so far this season for the Magic. Johnson has played in just four games this season, but he’s a 13-year NBA veteran and one of the Magic’s most respected players in the locker room. Johnson played in 80 games last season, averaging 5.3 points and 2.5 assists.
Said Nelson: ``Those two guys have been around a long time and know how to play this game. J-Will has won a championship and knows what he’s doing and AJ has just what it takes to keep this team rolling.’’
Nelson said having gone through last season’s shoulder injury and subsequent surgery will help him deal with this rehabilitation process. And he said that having had to deal with the death of his father two years ago helped him to keep things such as injuries in perspective.
``Life-wise, I’ve been through much bigger things than this before,’’ Nelson said. ``I’m a fast healer and I’ll do everything that’s asked of me to have a speedy recovery. But I’m not going to hurry an injury like this back and get back before I’m supposed to. I just know that I have the support of the team behind me on this.’’
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
By John DentonNovember 17, 2009
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO – As he so often has throughout his career, Jameer Nelson played through the pain in his left knee Monday night and not only did he never consider coming out of the game, but he also never considered that he might have a serious injury.
But the Orlando Magic’s all-star point guard knew right away when he awoke Tuesday morning that something was definitely wrong with his knee.
A Magnetic Resonance Imaging test later on Tuesday revealed torn meniscus in the knee, an injury that will require arthroscopic surgery today. Nelson is expected to miss four to six weeks following the surgery.
``I have no idea how it happened, but I just kept playing on it in the game,’’ Nelson said on Tuesday. ``I played through the pain and I didn’t really notice the swelling until after the game. I just thought that I sprained my knee and would deal with it in treatment. But as soon as I woke up (on Tuesday) I knew that it was worse than I thought.’’
Nelson missed a major chunk of last season after tearing the labrum in his right shoulder, but he returned six weeks ahead of schedule and played in the NBA Finals. He worked throughout the summer to regain his all-star form and came out of Monday’s victory averaging 13.7 points and a team-high 5.5 assists per game.
Veteran point guard Jason Williams will start Wednesday night when the Magic (8-3) host the Oklahoma City Thunder. Anthony Johnson, who has played sparingly this season, will be the back-up at point guard.
The Magic have been hit particularly hard with injury, illness and suspension so far this season. Monday’s game was the first one all season that Orlando had its projected starting five of Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, Vince Carter, Mickael Pietrus and Nelson on the floor together. That will change now with Williams in place of Nelson.
``Really, it could have been a lot worse. You never want to be injured, but I keep telling myself that it’s still early in the season,’’ Nelson said. ``Things happen for a reason, but I haven’t figured out what the reason is for this yet. I just informed Rashard about my knee a few minutes ago and he was just saying how we can’t catch a break right now as a team. I just told him and the other guys that things like this happen and we’ll weather the storm just fine.’’
Nelson said he has the utmost confidence that the Magic will function just fine with Williams and Johnson running the team from the point. Williams, an 11-year NBA veteran, has averaged 5.4 points and 4.0 assists so far this season for the Magic. Johnson has played in just four games this season, but he’s a 13-year NBA veteran and one of the Magic’s most respected players in the locker room. Johnson played in 80 games last season, averaging 5.3 points and 2.5 assists.
Said Nelson: ``Those two guys have been around a long time and know how to play this game. J-Will has won a championship and knows what he’s doing and AJ has just what it takes to keep this team rolling.’’
Nelson said having gone through last season’s shoulder injury and subsequent surgery will help him deal with this rehabilitation process. And he said that having had to deal with the death of his father two years ago helped him to keep things such as injuries in perspective.
``Life-wise, I’ve been through much bigger things than this before,’’ Nelson said. ``I’m a fast healer and I’ll do everything that’s asked of me to have a speedy recovery. But I’m not going to hurry an injury like this back and get back before I’m supposed to. I just know that I have the support of the team behind me on this.’’
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
