Q-Risk
It's official, Quentin Richardson is done for the season, as we and a few other papers (the Daily News and the Newark Star-Ledger) reported on Thursday -- despite Isiah Thomas's claim that on Wednesday the team did not know any of this.

Actually, Isiah this morning said the Knicks only found out yesterday that Richardson was to undergo season-ending back surgery last night. Somehow Richardson went from sitting on the Knicks bench for Wednesday's game against Cleveland to taking a flight to Miami the next day and undergoing a spinal microdiskectomy -- not exactly your run-of-the-mill arthroscopic procedure -- that night.

For the facts on microdiskectomy, click here: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007250.htm

It's not quite career-threatening, but you have to believe any surgical procedure done on the spine involves some risk if not some concern.

I hope Q knew not to eat or drink after midnight on Wednesday. Oh wait, he didn't know he was going to have the surgery, according to the Knicks. Not until after an MRI and CAT scan were done Thursday morning and the renown neurological surgeon, Dr. Barth A. Green, said Q had better get to Miami quick. Green had one opening last night before his scheduled trip to Haiti, where he participates in the Project Medishare program.

Q's back must have been far more troubled than anyone in the Knicks medical staff knew. Otherwise, he should have been down to see Doc Green much sooner, no? Or do they just invest millions in players and then hope conservative methods will heal serious and chronic problems such as Q's back trouble?

Second opinions are as common at the Garden as overcooked chicken fingers.

But what's also an interesting revelation in all of this was Isiah this morning saying he knew all along that Richardson would one day require this procedure. But he went through with the draft day trade of Kurt Thomas to Phoenix for Q-Rich and the draft rights to Nate Robinson.

“We weighed all our options and we were willing to take the risk. We knew at some point in time this would occur, when there would be a surgery," Thomas said. "The chances of him coming back from a surgery we thought would be performed would be good. I thought it was best at that time to have two players and maybe one day deal with the surgery and move forward from it.”

Tough time to have to deal with the surgery.

Another example of Isiah's BACKward thinking.

Uninsured contract and Nate really worth it? Come on!!!

I would like to see the kool-aid drinkers justify this one!

So here is the verdict on the surgery:

Spinal microdiskectomy is the minimally invasive surgical removal of disk fragments from a herniated disk, usually in the lower back (lumbar area). Unlike lumbar spine surgery that requires an incision 2 to 5 inches long, microdiskectomy is performed through a very small incision (about 1 to 1 ½ inches).

Description

Microdiskectomy is conducted in a hospital or outpatient surgical center while the patient is under local anesthesia (awake but pain-free). A special high-powered microscope magnifies the affected disk(s) and nerves, and guides the doctor during surgery.

A tiny incision is made on the patient’s back, and the surgeon moves the back muscles away from the spine. After identifying and moving the nerve root, the surgeon removes the injured disk tissue and fragments. The back muscles are then moved back into their normal position, and the wound is closed with stitches or staples.

Risks include the following:

- Nerve root damage
- Dural tears (tears to the tissue called the dura mater, which covers the spinal cord and spinal nerves)
- Re-herniation of the same disk
- Because of the small incision, the doctor may miss some disk fragments. This could result in persistent pain.

Zip it, Aladdin.

When Q was healthy, he played well for us. Thomas was already on the way down. If Q makes a complete recovery from surgery, he'll be a quality player for this team.

Posted by Queeniepop:

Zip it, Aladdin.

ho snap, that's cold.


i think the risk was worth taking... KT was definitely not part of any future for this team... let's not pretend like we gave up Patrick Ewing in that deal... we had 2 young PF's on the roster that we needed to clear playing time for... Q Rich, when healthy, is a VERY good player to have... & even if he's done for the duration, getting that #21 pick we stood a chance to pick up a potential sleeper pick that could impact this franchise... Nate was probably not the best choice to make obviously, but no one would have known Nate would end up being the pick at the time the trade was made... if we'd used the pick on Monta Ellis, i highly doubt anyone would have had a problem w/this trade... so the reasoning was sound, but the choice of pick was where Isiah fell short in that deal IMO.

Wasn't Eddy Curry's heart condition a risk as well?

Drafting Renaldo Balkman was a risk.

Trading away Keith Van Horn was a risk.

Life is a risk

Q's a fixerupper