Reports have been coming out about an impending knee surgery for Denver Nuggets center Jusuf Nurkic, and those reports have been confirmed by the Denver Post's Chris Dempsey.
Jusuf Nurkic, the Nuggets rookie center, is scheduled to undergo knee surgery Wednesday for a slight tear of the patella tendon. He is expected to be sidelined 3 to 4 months while he recovers.
The three to four month timetable allows for Nurkic to be back with the team, ahead of training camp in late September/early October. Reports had been circling about a knee surgery for the last couple of weeks, but we finally got clarity today on the situation. The first to report the injury's correct timetable was Igor Marinovic:
Denver Nuggets big man Jusuf Nurkic undergoes knee surgery today in LA. Recovery prediction is 3-4 months so Nurkic will miss Eurobasket2015
— Igor Marinovic (@sofoklo13) May 20, 2015
Nurkic was named to the NBA's All Rookie Second team after averaging 6.9 points and 6.2 rebounds in 17.8 minutes per game for the Nuggets though 62 games as a rookie. This surgery seems to be something that has been coming for some time, as Nurkic missed some time with the Bosnian National team last season, to let his knee rest.
This news does put a damper on Nurkic's summer. He would have played for either the Bosnian National team or the Nuggets' Summer League team, but those hopes are now dashed. Nurkic will also be working himself back into shape at the start of the season, and won't get a jump start on working on his game and body. Instead, he'll need to play some catch up and work himself back in slowly.
Patella Tendon:
This content is no longer available.
This content is no longer available.
Blazers Edge had an excellent post on Patella Tendon injuries throughout NBA history, back in 2009. It can be a scary injury, like Greg Oden suffered. And it can be a career altering injury like Antonio McDyess suffered. There are various extents to the patella injuries, and Blazers Edge did a great job looking at many of them. The scary part: many Nuggets are on that list to some degree; including: McDyess, LaPhonso Ellis, Greg Buckner, Randy Foye, Bison Dele, Priest Lauderdale, and Kenyon Martin.
With patellas being key in jumping and landing, it's no surprise that so many basketball players must deal with this injury at some point in their careers. There does seem to be history of guys having to deal with other injuries after they recover from patella related injuries, so Nurkic's recovery must be handled properly.
Here's hoping for a speedy recovery.
