Dwight Howard receives bone marrow aspirate injection in his right knee

Strained knee. Just saying..

 

Dr. Kenneth First is from Harvard. Clearly rooting against the Rockets due to Jeremy Lin.

 

Is this doctor connected to the Rox? It would not surprise me if he was right.

DD

 

I don't thin the situation is very bright, but are we really giving much validity on 'over-the-phone' diagnoses?

 

All of this is pure crap....

Like the media trying to predict the war and what's really going on or what is happening when they don't know crap...

The only people that know anything are the Rockets organization itself...



T_Man

 

I am not a doctor nor do I pretend to be but your blanket statements about Howard being done and "this is the end" just baits idiot posters into going on stupid rants. You are better than that.

We simply don't know what Dwight will look like in a month. He may be fine, he may be terrible.

 

What about terribly fine? Somehow, I think that's a possibility.

 

Totally agree....

T_Man

 

Well he was out a month earlier and looked good for a couple of games once he came back.

Let's hope this time he is all the way back.



DD

 

is it time to panick yet

 

If this is not a doctor that actually looked at his knee, I think it is pretty irresponsible to speculate without all the facts.

 

Win a playoff series in the west? Coin flip
Dwight needs surgery? Coin flip

 

I heard that interview. It's Nick Wright who's jumping to conclusions here. Dr. First only said he was skeptical that the bone marrow aspirate would do anything. Basically you're comparing something that has very shoddy evidence to support it (microfracture) against something that has no evidence at all (the marrow aspirate).

In the end though, it's still just an outside doctor speculating. No one except Dwight and the Rockets' staff knows exactly what the MRI looks like or what kind of functionality he has right now. I mean, we all saw out there what Dwight looked like before the Rockets decided to sit him for a month. He was still playing. Not limping, not hobbling, jumping up and down with the same hops he's always had. It was only the lateral movement and defense that really looked like it was suffering.

I'll take that Dwight any day over microfracture. As Houston fans we now have a sample size of T-Mac and Clowney when it comes to microfracture. **** microfracture. Seriously.

 

I'm not a doctor either. And certainly I don't know 100% what Dwight's outcome will be.

But I can say this - it looks very bleak. Cartilage damage is serious stuff. I have never heard of a player who was bone on bone ever returning to peak form. Ever. Even when Dwight came back this season people were saying how he was coasting or something was wrong.

Dwight might return, but he won't be the same. He'll be a different player. A shadow of himself.

Injuries take their toll. Age takes its toll. The fact that he can't work out and practice like he did will impact his game negatively.

I am just saying that the Dwight Howard of past will unlikely ever be coming back.

 

First off I doubt Dwight is actually bone on bone the one doctor said the cartilage damage was small.

2nd, age takes it's toll? The dude isn't even 30 yet no way Dwight's knee is bad because he's old.

 

Its also against something we call HIPAA. Physicians can't just disclose private healthcare info.

 

If he was Dwight's physician..

 

FWIW, Dwight is closer to 32 because he skipped college.

Unfortunately, this year and next should have been the last years at his peak. With this injury, he could go right into the first significant decline most stars wouldn't have until about 34.

 

I presume he will be closer to average (Offense and Defense in total) than he ever was in his career (with some exceptional games sporadically)

That is me being very optimistic and a realist

I will be surprised if he returns a superstar

 

But, see, that's the whole point: there was no serious blow! That's what McHale said, they can't track it to a particular play or a fall. That's why it looks degenerative to me.