Taking the most aggressive but uncertain approach to his left knee problems, Tracy McGrady will undergo season-ending microfracture surgery this morning.
The procedure will keep him out for six to 12 months and comes with a risk, though slight, that he might not be able to return at all. "In the worst-case scenario, we're recommending a procedure that is going to end his career," said Rockets team physician Dr. Tom Clanton, who will observe the surgery performed by Dr. Brian Cole today in Chicago. "It is always troubling to make that kind of recommendation with any athlete. We also know if they reach the point they say, ?I can't keep doing it like this,' you've got to do something to try to help them.
"It is a risky knee surgery. Not everybody that has microfracture surgery comes back and plays Basketball, much less NBA-level Basketball. Tracy knows that."
The procedure is considered much less risky for McGrady because the joint surface damage unprotected by the usual amount of cartilage is less than a half-centimeter, requiring less cartilage replacement, and because the lesion is on a non-weight-bearing bone beneath the kneecap.
Clanton also was optimistic because he said McGrady has an otherwise "great looking" knee in the weight-bearing parts of the joint. The surgery will create small holes in the bone at the base of the articular cartilage to allow blood to form clots with bone marrow elements that will produce a new cartilage surface.
McGrady had problems with the knee last season. Arthroscopic surgery was performed May 6 to avoid microfracture surgery.
"I think that I let him return to play a little too quickly," Clanton said. "Perhaps if we had strengthened his knee more at the start, maybe he wouldn't have had these symptoms."
With club personnel critical of the way McGrady handled the announcement of his decision last week, he issued an apology to the Rockets organization, owner Leslie Alexander and coach Rick Adelman.
"I would like to apologize to Les Alexander, the Rockets organization, and of course all the fans out there for this entire situation," McGrady wrote at his Web site, t-mac.com.
"Les and the Rockets have been nothing short of amazing to me and my family during my entire time with them, and for that I thank them. ? Coach Adelman has been extremely accommodating and patient with me while we have tried to work through this, and I am thankful to him for that.
"My personal focus now is to look forward and dedicate myself 100 percent to returning to the court and returning to be the player I was and know that I still am."
jonathan.feigen@chron.com
