Robin Lopez Out Until Thanksgiving: Who's Panicking?

Raise your hand if you were waiting for this to happen? The past few weeks have been alive with optimism and positive thought. Only something "weird" as Steve Nash put it, could interrupt the current good vibes and great chemistry of the infant 2009-10 season. Nash was referring to a trade or an injury. Here is the first. Robin Lopez has a Broken fifth metatarsal bone in his foot.

From Renowned Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Mark S Myerson:

"It is important to understand the anatomy of the 5th metatarsal in order to appreciate the nuances of injury and treatment. The metatarsal is divided into four anatomic segments (the base, the junction of the base and the shaft, the shaft, and the neck).

"Fractures of the base of the metatarsal are the most common, and occur as a result of a twisting injury of the foot or ankle. The ankle rolls inward (inverts), and there is a powerful ligament that attaches to the base of the metatarsal which pulls off a small bone fragment. This type of fracture is invariably treated without surgery, and immediate walking in a protective shoe or boot is ideal.

The junction between the base of the metatarsal and the shaft (the junction between the Metaphysis and Diaphysis of the bone) is the area which creates most problems when fractured. The reason for the difficulty is that bone healing relies upon a good circulation, and this particular area of the bone has a notoriously poor blood supply. Fractures of the shaft of the metatarsal occur commonly as a result of twisting of the foot when landing from a jump, for example in ballet dancers, and these heal very rapidly in a stiff shoe without any need for surgery."

Alvin Gentry speculates that Lopez will be out until at least Thanksgiving. Although Lopez's appearances in the Summer League and mini camp left most of us still wondering if he could hack it at the NBA level, let alone win a starting job, Gentry praised Lopez and said he had been making significant progress up until the injury.

Here is the most intriguing part of the whole occurrence which we were discussing earlier in RGreyslak's post:

• Earl Clark will be given an opportunity to exhibit his freakish wing span and long, lanky frame: per Gentry, he will be seeing some time at the big 5!
• Sun Tzu may be going to war at the 5 a lot more than expected.

Here's Gentry and Lopez Audio talking about the injury - audio provided by Sports 620 KTAR

How the Injury Happened

Lopez Foot Injury and Centers

Lopez Was Playing Well

Gentry and Amare

Better Now Than Later

Gentry-Clark Could Play