Mike Dunleavy Staring At Knee Surgery

by Tom Lewis on Mar 2, 2009 6:20 AM EST in Indiana Pacers News

There was some interesting and unsettling revelations in the latest update on Mike Dunleavy's knee injury. The injury is due to a "giant bone spur on my right patella tendon." According to Dun, the knee has been an issue for some time.

"This is an issue I've had for about 10 years," Dunleavy said in his first public comments about the severity of his knee trouble. "This isn't new. It isn't a matter of knowing what it is.
"It's a matter of figuring out how you fix it. That's kind of what we're working with right now."

"Probably not until I got in the NBA was it recognized as something more than tendinitis," said Dunleavy, the No. 3 pick in the 2002 draft out of Duke. "Early on, it was 'Oh, you have tendinitis. Everybody goes through it. You're young, whatever.'

"Over the course of the years, it's just gotten worse. Last year, I took a pretty bad fall and from that standpoint, I haven't been the same since. That's why were trying to figure something out."

So if the knee has been getting progressively worse over the last ten years, don't you have it cut that bone spur out to stop the pain progression? I realize cutting on an athlete's knee is a last ditch effort, but it seems like the situation has reached that point. If he stays status quo, it seems to me, he'll always be battling the pain. But there must be some uncertainty with the surgery, considering he's seen several specialist and they aren't ordering up surgery as the cut and dried solution. Maybe they were trying to exhaust all of their efforts to get Dun back on the court to finish out the season before having surgery. Now that he's done for the year, surgery may make more sense.

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you think this does anything to his long-term prospects? i.e. any way we’re losing him and/or getting out from under his big contract?

by psvirsky on Mar 2, 2009 10:42 AM EST reply actions

This is definitely a critical time for Dun’s long-term career. As far as it turning into an injury/retired situation for cap relief, I doubt it will happen. This is a worst case scenario for Dun, he can no longer play. But considering he has two years left on his deal after this year, there will be plenty of time for him to rehab the injury and try to come back. Again, worst case, that would end up taking up next year. Let’s say he decides to call it a career, the team still has to wait a year before applying for cap relief, so even if they were able to get the relief, it would probably be around the same time the contract is set to come off the books anyways.

Indy Cornrows

by Tom Lewis on Mar 2, 2009 10:56 AM EST up reply actions

Why did it take so long to get this fixed?

I really just hope that the Pacers misguided attempt for the Playoffs this year didn’t keep Dunleavy from getting this fixed. The last thing we need is him missing part of next year because we were stupid in delaying surgury this year.

" Tell me something Steve, How does a guy from Puerto Rico loose a ball in the Sun? "

by aaronb on Mar 2, 2009 3:08 PM EST reply actions

I agree

If this has been bothering Dunleavy for ten years someone should have been able to diagnose this problem before now. Sounds like another example of a player with a mysterious pain who has decided during the middle of an NBA season that he needs surgery. Do this sh** in the offseason, not at the end of a season where rehab may carry over into next season.

by ThirtyOne on Mar 2, 2009 6:09 PM EST up reply actions

I don’t understand what they could possibly be waiting for to determine whether or not to have surgery. He’s been to different specialists not associated with the Pacers, but if the bone spur is there, what’s the hold up? Certainly there can’t be some test results. I would think they’ve exhausted all possible tests by this point.

Indy Cornrows

by Tom Lewis on Mar 2, 2009 7:05 PM EST up reply actions

I agree that this should have been handled a long time ago. The phrase “knee surgery” is probably one of the scariest things to say to a professional athlete. I’m sure that Dunleavy and all of the training staffs he has worked with in his several years in the NBA wanted to avoid it at all costs. Now it looks like surgery may be more of a reality than Dunleavy would like.

I think if surgery is the best answer, they need to do it NOW. O’Brien has already counted Dunleavy out for the rest of the season. If he does the surgery now, he will have plenty of time to rehab it for next season. The longer they wait, the more likely this will be an issue for next season. Dunleavy does not strike me as someone who will call it quits so easy. From everything I have heard, he is a hard worker and will do whatever it takes to be back to playing condition!

by AReed on Mar 3, 2009 11:28 AM EST reply actions