Walker asking to be traded

Another case of "bleacherreport buyer beware"?  Another large helping of phony-bologna?

On a related topic, I'm trying to fact check a claim about "multiple procedures" and this is what I found when researching Kemba's injury history:

2015 left knee, during season, missed 6 weeks.

2016-2019 Next 4 seasons, missed only 6 regular season games. Signs with Celtics.

Nov. 2019 Concussion when running into Semi O.  Carted off the court in a stretcher.

2020 Knee issues around All-Star Break.  Did he eventually go under the knife for this or just rest?  Rest I think, then he went on to play in the bubble.

2020 Stem cell injection after the bubble.  Then this season.

What am I missing?

gyso wrote:Another case of "bleacherreport buyer beware"?  Another large helping of phony-bologna?

On a related topic, I'm trying to fact check a claim about "multiple procedures" and this is what I found when researching Kemba's injury history:

2015 left knee, during season, missed 6 weeks.

2016-2019 Next 4 seasons, missed only 6 regular season games.  Signs with Celtics.

Nov. 2019 Concussion when running into Semi O.  Carted off the court in a stretcher.

2020 Knee issues around All-Star Break.  Did he eventually go under the knife for this or just rest?  Rest I think, then he went on to play in the bubble.

2020 Stem cell injection after the bubble.  Then this season.

What am I missing?

gyso I found this from a post back in July

by dboss Sun Jul 12, 2020 4:03 pm

gyso wrote:
Has anyone read about surgery for Kemba Walker?  I imagine that his ongoing knee issue is going to have to be dealt with at some point.

gyso

Funny you should mention that as I had similar thoughts.   I am not sure how the knee got injured but the article I posted below indicates that he has had at least 3 procedures prior to joining the Celtics.   He had surgery to repair a lateral meniscus tear as well as two additional arthroscopic procedures.  Sounds like most the the meniscus has been removed.

They previously said that there is no structural damage and right now they are working with him to strengthen the knee.

Here is an old piece on this

"Walker has previously had knee discomfort despite showing no structural issues while with the Charlotte Hornets, and had to have it drained as recently as 2016."

see this article as well

https://www.bostonsportsjournal.com/2020/02/26/dr-flynn-whats-going-kemba-walkers-sore-knee/

Kemba Walker missed his third straight game on Tuesday night with soreness in his left knee after having the knee drained and injected with Synvisc last week.

The Celtics' guard, who has been slowed by knee soreness for much of the season, experienced increased swelling and discomfort in the knee after returning from All-Star weekend. Brad Stevens told reporters recently the sudden increase in swelling after the All-Star Game was unexpected and indicated that the swelling was much more than he had been dealing with all season.

“The difference between how his knee presented on Wednesday (and) how it presented throughout his period of soreness that we had sat him with, was he just had a lot more swelling," he said. "Obviously, that was an indicator that we needed to check it. He had another scan. Knee looks good structurally. But he’s going to be managing it and dealing with it, as he has all year.”

Let me make some sense of all of this for you because I have seen a lot of inaccurate information about what Synvisc is and what this means for the Celtics guard going forward.

Walker has dealt with left knee issues for much of his professional career. His first reported left knee surgery was in January 2015 for a lateral meniscus tear. His second reported surgery was in May 2016 and it was another arthroscopic surgery (“scope”) to trim more lateral meniscus. A third surgery in May 2017 was reportedly another “minor arthroscopic procedure.”

With a history of three surgeries on the knee, at least two of them to address lateral meniscus tearing, it is very common to have focal arthritis in that part of the knee. In order to address the meniscus tears, surgeons had to remove part of the meniscus … potentially three times. That makes the remaining meniscus much smaller, brings the joint surfaces closer together and messes with the mechanics of the joint, causing the articular cartilage that coats the bones to thin. Localized knee arthritis is common in the NBA and is often an injury that athletes are able to manage and play through.

Commonly, when a professional athlete with chronic meniscus tears and articular cartilage injury has an acute flare-up with pain and swelling, an early consideration for treatment is a steroid injection. Steroid injections are the most effective and quick way to reduce swelling and discomfort, but they also carry a risk. The medicine that we inject with the steroid is somewhat toxic to the cartilage cells, so it is commonly thought that repetitive injections can actually make arthritis progress more quickly.

Kemba did not have a steroid injection last week, though. He had an injection of Synvisc, which is a brand of hyaluronic acid (HA) injected to treat symptoms of mild to moderate arthritis. HA is something that is found naturally in joints with healthy cartilage. Arthritic joints have lower concentrations of HA.

Simply put, HA injections are meant to supplement HA back into the joint to try to make the surviving cartilage more healthy. Synvisc does seem to have some anti-inflammatory effects, but it is not a slam-dunk way to reduce pain and inflammation within a few days in the way that we think of steroid injections. In fact, it usually takes about 4-6 weeks to get a maximum effect from HA injections. Kemba most likely had a Synvisc injection instead of a steroid shot either because he had recently had a steroid injection and it was too soon for another one or because doctors decided that the risk of steroid injection was not worth the benefit due to Kemba’s age and injury.

The fact that Kemba had a Synvisc injection likely means that he has some arthritis in his left knee. However, the fact that Kemba had a Synvisc injection does not mean that he needs a knee replacement today, tomorrow, or next year. While we sometimes do use Synvisc to treat advanced arthritis pain in patients who are delaying joint replacement surgery, the medication is thought to be most beneficial for knees with minimal to moderate arthritis. Contrary to what you are hearing on the radio and reading online, Synvisc injection does not mean imminent joint replacement!

In the short-term, I anticipate that the Celtics will take it slow with Kemba’s return in order to allow the knee to fully calm down and get him healthy for the postseason. My best guess is that he will return to game play after 1-2 weeks of rest if all continues to go well for him.

Long-term, I look at an injury like this as something that Kemba Walker will continue to manage throughout his career. He may have flare-ups from time to time. As arthritis gets worse, the flare-ups could become more common, but every athlete and every knee is different. If the knee ever flares up and does not respond to conservative treatment then surgery could be a possibility down the road, but there is no sign that that is a concern currently.

__________________

Dr. Jessica Flynn is a sports medicine physician at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington, MA. She writes about injuries in professional sports on her blog, DocFlynn.com. You can follow her on Twitter @jessdeede.

_________________

dboss

Jan. 2015 left knee, torn lateral meniscus, debrided (cleaned out)

May 2016 left knee, torn meniscus, minor arthroscopic surgery

May 2017 left knee, no diagnosis, minor arthroscopic surgery

That makes three minor surgeries and a stem cell injection.

Anything else?

I guess "multiple procedures" checks out.

As far as I know that is it. the stem cell injection was in 2020 after the playoffs.

Yes, remember he did not start the season with the team, recuperating from stem cell injections. After he returned it was on managed care.

Gyso, the funny thing about Bleacher Reports is that they are just a bunch of bloggers making up or trying to get stories. Their trade rumors are not to be trusted. Some of the guys from Celtics Blog write for them now. I am not a fan of Jeff Clark, but he has a story on the blog you would find amusing. Reasons for keeping Kemba. The remarks at the end of this particular story amused me as it seems like bad behavior is rampant with these kids today. Read it if you get a chance.

Yes, remember he did not start the season with the team, recuperating from stem cell injections. After he returned it was on managed care.

Gyso, the funny thing about Bleacher Reports is that they are just a bunch of bloggers making up or trying to get stories. Their trade rumors are not to be trusted. Some of the guys from Celtics Blog write for them now. I am not a fan of Jeff Clark, but he has a story on the blog you would find amusing. Reasons for keeping Kemba. The remarks at the end of this particular story amused me as it seems like bad behavior is rampant with these kids today. Read it if you get a chance.

dboss wrote:

bobheckler wrote:Who would we want from the Knicks?  


Bob


.

Bobh they have several guys that are free agents.  Journeyman (FA) Alex Burks would be the guy I would want but he would have to want to come here.  The Knicks could do a sign and trade.  Just like we did with TRo.  The Knicks should ask for a pick as part of the compensation for taking on Kemba's $73 million contract AND questionable availability.  The Celtics should be more than willing to do that.

If we get Burks I see no reason to spend money on Fournier.  Just let him go.  Young wings Nesmith and Langford need more playing time to develop.  Then we still have $11 million left from the GH trade exception if Brad/Danny    want to add another piece.  We also will have options with a couple of other trade exceptions.

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/boston-celtics/cap/2021/

Further, our new starting PG for the upcoming season will be PP.  We need to hire a coach and former NBA PG's like Chauncey or Sam that can coach him up.  

I think this will at least get us back on track.  A healthy Robert Williams and a coached up PP with a year under his belt could make for a fun and competitive team.

PP is not ready to be our startling point guard dboss. Did you not watch him in the playoffs.? Lets Not put him in a position to fail. Later NOT now.

I am expecting YOY improvement + a new coach that played his position and can coach him up.Yes I saw the Celtics in the playoff.  The team played poorly and they were missing key players..

I say send him out into the wilderness armed with a knife, an apple and a slice of cheese.  If he makes it back to civilization, he is a lock.

He just needs to log more time with the starters.  

We are not winning the title next year so I say put him in there. Let him learn from his mistakes.  Get him and AN and RL reps so that they will be ready when Boston goes to the playoffs next year.

Apparently you think he's good enough to start right now. I do not. Regardless of whether the team is ready to contend for a title or not, we need to have the best players out there at all times if possible. Sorry, I don’t consider our team to be the NBA’s version of “Star Search” or “American Idol”.
BTW, I believe if prudence dictates next steps from the front office, who says we wont be ready to contend next year?

Ktron wrote:Apparently you think he's good enough to start right now. I do not. Regardless of whether the team is ready to contend for a title or not, we need to have the best players out there at all times if possible. Sorry, I don’t consider our team to be the NBA’s version of “Star Search” or “American Idol”.
BTW, I believe if prudence dictates next steps from the front office, who says we wont be ready to contend next year?

ktron I look at it in a different light.

Does PP have solid PG skills? I think that he does. He has a solid handle (both hands) He can play with pace, he can shoot from the perimeter and has quickness to get to the rim. He can pass the ball and seemed to develop a nice connection with RW. His defense is adequate, not great but not bad either.

The big learning curve begins and ends with his decision making. Being a good floor general is where he is lacking but I believe that more playing time combined with the right coach will make him fit as fiddle. The main thing is that he has PG skills and intelligence and he is a tireless worker.

IF KW is moved during the offseason and the Celtics do not add a veteran starting quality PG, I see PP as the next best option.

Ktron wrote:

Funny. I really do appreciate you.

Us fans are just hoping for a brighter day.  There is no expectation that a star will be born.

Just give me a lunch pail guy that comes to work and cares about his job. And if he falls flat on his face but gets back up, then he earns respect and support.

There is no Innervision at play.  The future can only be characterized by the unknown of uncertainty.

FREE AGENT

Rosalie,

Celticsblog has an article based on the BleacherReport article about Walker. The folks in the comments are calling Celticsblog irresponsible for running such crap.

Funny, ain't it?