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The Phoenix Suns are notoriously private when it comes to their basketball operations, especially when it comes to player injuries. It seemed they were electing to continue that trend with the following media release, sent out on Sunday around 10 a.m.
Phoenix Suns forward Cam Johnson has sustained a torn meniscus in his right knee. He will undergo surgery and be out until further notice. Updates will be provided as appropriate.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported Tuesday morning that 1-2 months would be the timetable, and shortly after, the team sent out a release that Johnson’s meniscectomy was successful that morning.
Suns forward Cam Johnson had surgery today that removed part of his meniscus, a procedure that should allow him to return in 1-2 months, sources told ESPN.
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) November 8, 2022
First off, 1-2 months is a bit of a sigh of relief after my initial expectations were that he’d miss at least the rest of pre All-Star break play, and ramping up to playoff ball could be a challenge. Now it looks like he... might be home for Christmas ;)
Getting into the worrisome side of things, a shorter term recovery likely means Johnson is at higher risk in the future to have nagging tendinitis and issues like that. Treating a meniscus usually goes one of two ways: repair or trim. Suns and Johnson elected to go the “trim” route. Trimming is only an option with minor tears, and if it really is a minor tear, then trimming is the right call!
If it was in a gray area where the parties involved had to consider both options very seriously, then it was maybe not the right call, and we won’t know for sure until we see how Cam is when he’s back or even 5-10 years down the line. Shorter term solutions can in this case lead to longer term problems because of the stress put on the surrounding areas by the removed portion.
I’m a worrier. I worry for Cam’s upcoming payday and how this affects it, and I worry about how that could’ve played into the decision to treat the meniscus by trimming it. Maybe there was a sense of “gotta rush back, gotta play, gotta get paid,” which while any of us can empathize with that hypothetical position, it’s still very worrisome!
For now, it’s just crossing fingers ‘til they break that everyone was smart about this.
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