Injury may keep Rockets' Taylor out for year By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle The Rockets' tumultuous summer took a devastating turn when forward Maurice Taylor, signed earlier this summer to a long-term contract, injured his right Achilles' tendon, potentially putting him out for the entire 2001-2002 season. Taylor suffered the injury, Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson confirmed today, while back-pedaling during a workout. He underwent a magnetic resonance imaging examination in Michigan that doctors there said showed a tear. "We pretty much know what's up although I haven't seen him myself yet," Rockets team physician Walter Lowe said. "He was playing just a pickup game and tore his Achilles' tendon. "He's been seen by three doctors at the University of Michigan. They think he's completely torn it. I would think they're right. It's not a difficult thing to tell. That requires surgery. It's a pretty easy surgical procedure. But it has a very long recovery period. "We need to see what level it's torn, how shredded it is. He would probably would not be ready to play basketball at his level for six months, between six and nine months to play." Taylor was en route to Houston today to be examined by Lowe, but travel complications postponed the meeting to this morning with surgery expected later in the day. Taylor had experienced Achilles problems throughout last season, but the injury is considered coincidental to those problems. "He had MRIs on both," Dawson said. "They were both great. This could have happened to anybody." The Rockets signed Taylor to a six-year, $48 million contract Aug. 7. If Taylor is ruled out for the season, the Rockets could apply to the NBA for a medical exception to the salary cap. If allowed, that exception would permit the Rockets to spend $3.25 million on a replacement for Taylor, though such exceptions are difficult to receive, especially if it is unclear if the injury is serious enough to keep a player out for an entire season. "He had Achilles tendinitis," Lowe said. "There's not a significant relationship between Achilles tendinitis and rupture. Ruptures don't happen with tendinitis. His MRIs were both good. When he was here, he had absolutely no symptoms whatsoever. And that was the area most carefully examined." Taylor averaged 13 points and 5.5 rebounds last season, averaging 16 points per game after the All Star break despite battling Achilles troubles he said have fully healed. He has averaged 14.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in his four-year career. Lowe said that with surgery and proper rehabilitation, athletes can come back fully from torn Achilles' tendons. "You would think he will be able to come back all the way," Lowe said. "There's any number of people in the NBA that have had Achilles' tendon tears. It's a difficult one to get over. It's not an unusual injury in the NBA, just like ACLs and everything else. It needs to be fixed right. It's a hard rehab. But with the right kind of effort, he can expect to come back and play the way he did before. A lot of things have to happen right to get to that point. "It's clearly a blow."
