There's every reason to believe Houston will never play w/o pain again. He'll be 33 in 2 months to the day. He has a lot of miles on him, from big minutes to playoff success. What Houston is experiencing is wear and tear on his knees.
The funny thing about these articles in the NY Post is that cartillage doesn't really ever grow back. Just ask Tim Hardaway and the hordes of other former athletes who have been said to have been playing with bone-on-bone. As far as i know, the procedure done on Houston involved transplanting cartillage from another part of his body to his knee to stimulate growth. When they talk about microfractures, it makes me think of what ruined penny's career.
Cartillage acts as a shock absorber between bones. When it's torn or worn away, it doesn't really heal. The jagged edges as a result of a tear usually lead to inflammation of the joint. For the most part, doctors simply cut off the jagged edges and call it a day (see john starks).
Houston undoubtedly came back too soon. The first game of the season was a job--- he was clearly limping a bit and favoring his leg. After scarely any preseason action, jumping right in and play 40+mpg was very bad.
Posted by BigRedDog:
Posted by TheSage:
There is no reason to believe that Houston will not fully recover. His was not not major surgery as i understand it. It was not reconstructive but remedial and all that needs is time. He has some pain which is normal and his only problem is lack of cartilege which cushions the knee. So, unless someone has better information, let's treat it as a relatively minor thing.
I don't think it is a minor thing. It's been going on for ~50 games and he still has pain. They are talking about having more surgery to try to promote cartilage growth. I don't see him being pain free at least for the rest of the year.
[Edited by - BigRedDog on 02/20/2004 15:09:02]
2/20/2004 12:07 AM
