Charlotte Hornets’ point guard Kemba Walker received terrible news on Monday when it was announced that he would have to undergo surgery to repair a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee.
Any time a player gets injured, it’s terrible news. For Walker, it’s particular ill-timed because he had been playing some of the best basketball of his career this season, averaging 21 points or more in both December (21.7 points) and January (23.6 pionts). He had previously scored over 20 points for an entire month just one time in his career.
According to Steve Reed of The A.P., the amount of time missed for Walker could vary greatly:
According to Dr. Calin Moucha, the associate chief of joint replacement surgery for the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, the range of recovery time for a player with that type of injury is typically between four weeks to five months depending on the location and configuration of the tear.
Moucha, who is not performing the surgery, said if the meniscus simply needs to be debrided – or cleaned out – Walker would likely be back in four to six weeks. However, if the meniscus needs to be repaired, Moucha said Walker could miss four to five months.
As of now, there is no way to know whether Walker could come back after a few weeks or end up missing the entire season. Hopefully, it’s the former as we all root for a speedy recovery for the point guard. His friend John Wall shared the same sentiments after learning of the news:
Prayers up for my bro @KembaWalker wishing him a speedy recovery !!
— John Wall (@JohnWall) January 27, 2015
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Jim Park is a blogger and editor of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.