Injuries just a part of everyday life for some players

You know you're an NBA veteran with a wee bit of injury troubles when you can differentiate one patella tendon strain from another. And make the latest seem trivial compared to, you know, the torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments you sheared in the same knee 11 months ago.

Coaching is probably the No. 1 post-career path for former players, but it's a wonder more of them don't wind up as physical therapists or orthopedic surgeons considering the advance-placement educations so many of them get. Injury 101, Advanced Surgery, Theories of Rehab and Early 21st Century Recovery are classes no one wants to take, textbooks they all would rather not read. Yet they are required courses for so, so many.

Michael Redd ought to be an expert in knee injuries; that beleaguered joint on his left leg has gotten more clinical attention in recent years than Cher's mug. The Milwaukee Bucks' shooting guard wrenched the aforementioned patella tendon while dunking in a victory Saturday against Detroit. The resulting strain figures to cost him at least two weeks, (that's how they all start out, right?) but Redd was able to reassure Bucks fans that this was a speed bump, not a road block.

"It's not severe,'' Redd told reporters in Milwaukee Monday. "Good news. I just aggravated an old knee injury I had a couple years ago. I'm going to Chicago to check it out with my doctor, but the MRI showed up pretty positive. I'll wait until the swelling goes down, and I'll be back out there playing.''

This guy, mind you, isn't a doctor. He just plays one in the NBA's Central Division. Never mind Johns Hopkins -- Redd got his training from the tendon strain he incurred in January 2007 on a similar dunk and from the blowout that ended his 2008-09 season prematurely.

Given that the first rule of medicine is "Do no harm,'' Dr. Redd might want to prescribe a regimen of no dunking for this particular patient from whenever he does return until the end of his playing days. A prognosis for the Bucks, meanwhile, is less clear, although playing without their best player and leading scorer is something that won't feel foreign.

What we do know, based on the number of early-season setbacks throughout the league, is that hospital beds are scarce, health-care costs are rising and if there was a vaccine to inoculate against this sort of stuff as with H1N1, there probably would be a shortage. Hey, welcome to our world!

Rare is the NBA team that can report no injuries, one week into the regular season and barely a month into full contact scrimmaging. Some simply are higher profile or more serious than others. The fractured kneecap of No.1 pick Blake Griffin, curtailing the rookie season of the Los Angeles Clippers young forward before it had even begun, is an obvious disappointment for him, for them and for us. In this case, welcome to Greg Oden's world. And Clippersland.

However miserable Griffin is, though, he at least has company. The list of other players who have dealt with or still are dealing with injuries as early-season hiccups is as long as Pau Gasol's wingspan. And yes, it includes Gasol, along with Antawn Jamison, Josh Howard, Vince Carter, Mike Dunleavy, Kevin Love, Devin Harris, Kyle Korver, Glenn Davis, Nate Robinson, Robin Lopez, Tim Thomas, Nicolas Batum, Francisco Garcia and way too many others. Milwaukee already was saddled with Joe Alexander's bum hamstring, but that one is more insult than injury -- Alexander already was a disappointment as a lottery pick as a rookie in 2008-09, enough that the Bucks didn't pick up his option for next season.

None of this is new. Just a year ago, equally valuable players were sidelined before (and in some cases well beyond) the holidays including Dunleavy, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Monta Ellis, Deron Williams, Elton Brand, Gilbert Arenas, Brendan Haywood and Josh Smith. Then there is the special category for players whose mid- or late-season injuries linger into early-season layoffs as well like Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady and Leon Powe.

Early-season injuries are a different sort of setback from those that come deeper into the schedule. Later, at least, there's the sense that wear and tear contributed somehow, that an injury was "more earned,'' in a way. As crippling as such mishaps can be to a player's and his team's ambitions, in many cases they happen to someone whose team is back in the pack and half-looking ahead to the offseason and a fresh start in the fall.

Injuries at this time of the year spoil that particular optimism. Coming when bodies are strong and legs are fresh, they seem more freakish, too, somehow more cruel. A little inexplicable as well.

``I don't know the reason for it,'' Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said last year, back when he was coping with injuries to Baron Davis, Marcus Camby and Eric Gordon. ``Sometimes it's bad luck. ... Sometimes they're not in good condition coming into camp and they're more susceptible to injuries. That's usually pulled muscles. There's structural stuff. Then there's freaky stuff that happens as far as stepping on an ankle here or there. Things you can't really avoid.''

Some might see these injuries as God's way of saying the NBA season is too long. Others will seek silver linings, such as the opportunities they provide to backup players. Channing Frye in Phoenix is the beneficiary of Robin Lopez's broken left foot. In Boston, Shelden Williams wouldn't be getting the same shot to resuscitate his career if Davis hadn't slugged an old friend and broken his Big Baby hand. Minnesota coach Kurt Rambis see Love's fractured finger as a both a problem for his team and a chance for someone else; Rambis feels his career came courtesy of Mitch Kupchak's blown knee in 1981, giving the Santa Clara kid minutes at power forward with the powerful Lakers team.

Picking up the slack for a fallen teammate can force players to grow and bond as they carry more load. Early-season injuries also can bring their own brand of optimism, offering return dates to which fans and teams can look forward. When, in theory, their heroes come back fresher and more eager than the opponents they'll face.

In practice, it can go either way. Consider two NBA legends: In 1980-81, Magic Johnson missed 45 games after tearing knee cartilage early in the season. He came back but had to blend in, since Norm Nixon had handled the starting point guard chores. Johnson played 37 games and the Lakers won nine of their final 13, but were dumped in the first round by Houston.

Five years later, Michael Jordan was limited to just 18 appearances after breaking his left foot in the Bulls' third game. That team was lucky to make the playoffs at all and similarly ousted in the first round by Boston. But in Game 2 of that three-game sweep, Jordan gave what generally is considered his greatest performance ever. With so much skill and energy bottled up for so long, he scored 63 points with six assists, five rebounds, three steals and two blocks in a 135-131 double-overtime loss, an unofficial coming out party that almost made the long dreary layoff before it seem worth it.

That's what the NBA's walking wounded -- or in Redd's case, limping -- should be focused on now. That and the whirlpool schedule.

Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA for 25 years. You can e-mail him here. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting.