Antawn Jamison will be out 3-5 weeks
Tuesday the NBA will finally be back, and by that I do not mean the pre-season, from October 27, 2009 the regular season will start up with the defending champs L.A. Lakers (plus Ron Artest, minus Trevor Ariza) looking to stay in front of a lot of teams that have gotten some extra help during the off season. Two of those teams, Boston and Orlando, got themselves the help from ex Tar Heels, Rasheed Wallace to the Celtics and Vince Carter to the Magic. So, for all of these players, plus the rest of the many, many Heels in the League, the season begins in a couple of days. For all except for Antawn Jamison, who is going to be out 3 to 5 weeks before being able to come back to play for his Washington Wizards. From an article on ESPN.com it says that the ex Tar Heel will miss 8 to 13 games (out of 82).
For those of you that do not remember Jamison dislocated his shoulder trying to block a shot in an exhibition game against the Cavs about 2 weeks ago. At first the medical staff believed that the power forward would be out for the pre-season and then would be ready to go. This all changed this week as the doctors stated that Jamison would need more time to heal. The 11 year veteran said this about the situation:
“The most important thing is it’s a long season,” he said. “We’ve got some guys who we added to the team and can help us out. I’ve just got to do what I’ve got to do as far as rehab and get ready as quickly as possible.”
But the reality is that for the Wizards, who seem to be hit with major injuries each and every year, this was certainly something they could have done without. Add to all of this the fact that the injury was supposed to be “nothing” and now the veteran will lose up to a seventh of the season, if you are a fan of this team you have to wonder “what next” for both Antawn Jamison and for the rest of the team.
Over at Slam Dunk Central, Jeff Sack talks about the injury to Jamison, as he has a quote from the 33 year old talking about the rehab:
“The biggest thing for me is to, even though I feel great, still continue to work, still stick with somewhat of a timetable. I feel good. I’ve been lifting, dribbling the ball. They won’t let me shoot yet, but I’m doing whatever the doctors tell me to do. But I feel pretty good.”
I truly hope that is the case, since it would be a shame to see Jamison (and his team) have another bad season due to injuries. Unfortunately, as any sports fan knows, players getting hurt is just as much part of the game as are the wins and losses. In the end I do not think that Washington will win or lose their season in the first 8 to 13 games of the year, so with a healthy Jamison back before the end of the November the Wizs should have all the chances they need to see the post season. As I do with all the Heels, let me wish Antawn Jamison all the best as he rehabs his injury and gets back to playing ball this season.
Shortlink:
