<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Fans of few teams have as much history and interest in microfracture surgery than Nets' fans. It's not because there is a larger number of orthopedists attending games at the CAA. It's just that Jason Kidd and Kerry Kittles both underwent the procedure while in Net uniforms and Kenyon Martin underwent it not long after he turned his in. A look at who has had the surgery and how they did afterwards...</div></p> <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>3. <u>John Stockton</u>: 1997 Stockton had the procedure done in October 1997 and made a very quick return, playing in 64 games that season. The Utah point guard had played in 609 consecutive regular season games before the surgery. When he returned, his points per game and assists per game both dropped (14.4 and 10.5 in season before surgery, 12 and 8.5 after), but this was due to a drop in his minutes as his per 40 numbers remained virtually unchanged. Even more impressive, once Stockton returned, he never missed another game until his retirement after the 2002-2003 season. 2. <u>Amare Stoudemire</u>: 2005 Shortly after signing a max contract in the summer of 2005, Stoudemire had micro-fracture knee surgery on October 18th, two months shy of his 23rd birthday. Stoudemire attempted to comeback in March that season and after scoring 20 points and grabbing 9 rebounds in his 19-minute debut, he played in just two more games, as he was not yet ready. But Stoudemire rebounded terrifically during the 2006-2007 season. He appeared in all 82 games, averaging 20.4 points and 9.6 rebounds and was a first-team All-NBA selection. Stoudemire lost some of the explosiveness he enjoyed before the operation, but during his rehabilitation, he vastly improved his all-around offensive game. This is the silver lining that could be applied to the Oden situation as well. 1. <u>Jason Kidd</u>: 2004 At the age of 31, <u>Jason Kidd</u> had micro-fracture surgery on July 1st, 2004. Kidd went on to miss the first 16 games of the 2004-2005 season, but began playing again on December 6th in limited minutes, but was back to his customary high-30’s, low-40’s per game time on the floor by the new year. Kidd’s per 40-minute production stayed nearly identical to where it was before the surgery and he even made marked improvement in his turnover to assist ratio. Like Stockton, Kidd’s performance in his 30’s at the point guard position is historical in its excellence.</div></p> http://www.realgm.com/src_feature/998/2007...acture_surgery/ </p> </p>
