Jorge Garbajosa needs surgery that will end his season and that puts the Raptors in a no-win situation with the Spanish star and his fans -- November 29, 2007, Toronto Sun, by KEN FIDLIN andGEORGE GROSS
The Raptors news release was distributed about an hour before last night's game.
"Jorge Garbajosa completed an examination with Dr. Mark Myerson, of Baltimore, on Monday afternoon.
Dr. Myerson's report concurs with the recommendation of the Toronto Raptors medical staff that Garbajosa's injury requires further surgery.
"No surgery date has been determined and no timing has been established for a return to basketball activity. Garbajosa will remain on the inactive list indefinitely."
.......Now he's inactive and the future course of events is uncertain. It's kind of sad, because
there are no bad guys in this soap opera.
Garbajosa loses in a variety of ways. He is destined to lose an entire NBA season. Yes, he'll get his money, either from the Raptors directly or through the insurance policy but he never can get this year back. He's a warrior who wants only to play.
When he came to Toronto last season, he had signed a three-year contract, his first in North America. Last season, prior to his devastating injury, he had established himself as a player and brought a level of toughness, both mental and physical to the Raptors, valuable commodities in the pro game. By missing this season and with next year in some doubt, his next contract, either with Toronto or another NBA team (he'll be a restricted free agent) is probably going to be less lucrative.
But
Garbajosa isn't about the money. He's about the playing and it kills him to sit, especially when he genuinely believes he's healthy.
The Raptors also are big losers. Their original reluctance to let Garbajosa play for Spain was based on the medical belief that the player needed further surgery to repair that badly broken leg. That belief has now been confirmed. If the surgery had occurred in the summer, Garbajosa conceivably could have been back playing, fully healthy, by the middle of this season.
Now the Raps have no idea when Garbajosa will be ready to play again. They can't force him to have surgery but they don't believe he's healthy enough to play....
To this point, according to sources,
re is no deep-seated rift between Garbajosa and the Raptors. He still wants to play for them and they want the same thingough they want him in a healthy state.
For that to happen, he eventually will have to give in and accept that further surgery is necessary.
