Unlikely I know but hardly unprecedented. A couple of things to keep in mind, it was widely reported that Oden's first mf surgery was relatively minor for a mf surgery. Now we find that the sport they will be repairing on his other knee is of similar size. Meaning again, relatively minor for a mf procedure. Oden has been through this rehab before. He has a volume of knowledge about what works and what doesn't work for rehabbing his body. Here is a list of players of when they had mf, the date they returned and how long they were out - John Stockton 10/14/97 12/8/97 2 months Anfernee Hardaway 12/10/97 1/29/98 2 months Brian Grant 6/??/99 11/17/99 4.5 months Allan Houston 6/10/03 10/29/03 4.5 months Jamal Mashburn 11/3/03 1/28/04 3 months Jason Kidd 7/1/04 12/6/04 5 months Zach Randolph 3/31/05 11/2/05 7 months Amaré Stoudemire 10/11/05 3/23/06 5 months As you can see a full year of rehab isn't always required. I can see why the Blazers were as careful as they were after Greg's first mf surgery but things are different this year. While it could be risky it also could be very beneficial to Greg and his potential contract offers to play the final month of the season and put in a strong showing during the playoffs. I think a lot of it depends on Greg and how bad he wants it. If he really puts in the work and dedication to rehabbing his knee he could return this season.
You might want to leave Penny, Allen Houstan, Mashburn and B-Grant off your list. They did come back but they were all a shell of their former selves after they did. That is not something anyone should want for Greg.
Plus, Stoudemire lasted a few games before being shut down for the season after his fast return. It seems that quick guys with ground-based games (Stockton/Kidd) or big guys with no vertical game (Randolph) worked out OK, although Randolph wasn't nearly as good as he previously was his first year back from MF.
dude, we are talking GREG ODEN here, possibly the slowest healer ever, here's an all NBA team he makes
Actually Penny did well after coming back from his 2nd mf surgery, played 30mins a game, 12pts, 4.4 assists.
Amare was shut down in order to have surgery on his other knee. The mf repaired knee was fine. Zbo showed only a slight drop in rebounding numbers and FT% http://www.nba.com/playerfile/zach_randolph/career_stats.html
Before we discuss a timeline, we need to see how large the affected area of the cartilage is. That being said, I'm not holding my breath.
Do you think, perhaps, that coming back so quickly from microfracture for Amar'e caused him to overcompensate on his other leg, and led to damaging that knee?
They shut Amare down because of stiffness in both knees. So no, his knee wasn't "fine". Also, ZBO had the worst PER of his career in 2005-06, and the team he "led" won 21 games.
5.5 mos first surgery 11.5 mos 2nd surgery ( but he didn't play until opening night of the 2007 season so he might have been able to play sooner)
"Stoudemire played four games in March 2006 before undergoing surgery on his other knee. He has since matched or surpassed his pre-surgery form." http://www.sonicscentral.com/microfracture.html
Even if Oden does return, I wonder how limited his athleticism will be now. If anything, he'll still be strong as hell and being strong+being 7 feet will still give him the edge in out-jumping and out-muscling other centers. But he might lose some of his original athleticism. I'm hoping this will make him emphasize better footwork and coordination.
