Hornets' Walker set for Wednesday knee surgery, may miss 6 weeks
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- On Saturday night, Charlotte Hornets general manager Rich Cho told FoxSportsCarolinas.com the team would soon know whether point guard Kemba Walker required surgery on his knee.
Cho and the Hornets found out sooner than later that Walker -- a first-round pick in his fourth NBA season -- has a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee and will undergo surgery Wednesday in New York City.
Walker, who is averaging 18.8 points per game, had missed three of the last five games because of soreness in that knee. It was announced earlier that a cyst on his meniscus was the culprit for the pain. Early estimates suggest Walker could miss up to six weeks.
Dr. James Romanowski, who is a sports orthopedic surgeon with Gill Orthopedic in Charlotte and former team doctor with the Cincinnati Bengals, said while he's not Walker's doctor there's a "very high association" with a cyst and a tear in the meniscus. He also added that most athletes like Walker are perfectly fine after the usual six-week recovery rehabilitation period.
"These type of tears are not usually considered 'major' injuries," Romanowski said. "The long term effects are typically minimal, but will be somewhat dependent on how much meniscus is removed. Athletes can typically get back to a very high competitive level."
In his place, third-year reserve Brian Roberts will take the helm at point guard. For the season, Roberts has averaged 6.8 points per game, while shooting 42 percent from the field (37 percent from the beyond the arc).
The injury comes at a tough time for Walker, who had put together the best shooting stretch of his career and had practically carried Charlotte (19-26) in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt -- while All-Pro center Al Jefferson missed time with a groin injury.
Prior to missing his first game on Jan. 17, Walker was averaging 24.3 points in his previous 19 games (44.6 percent from the field). By far, it's the most prolonged quality shooting stretch of his career.
That was quite a contrast to what Walker was shooting in the Hornets' first 21 games, sinking just 35.7 percent of his shots and averaging only 14.8 points.
On the whole, Walker was in tune with his career shooting rate (36 percent), while draining 32 percent of the three-pointers.
"He did so much in the summer," said Hornets coach Steve Clifford last week about Walker's turnaround. "He's a totally different player than he was a year ago. He just hadn't shot the ball well. Now, he's shooting the ball well; and if you're a talented guy, that's putting in as much time as he did in the summer. And every day he does extra, it's only a matter of time before he makes them.
"If you ask his teammates, they're not surprised and neither are his coaches."
Walker, 24, is tied for 18th for point guards in assists per game (5.2); he's also tied for 6th in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.14). In the final year of his rookie contract, the UConn product signed a massive extension on Oct. 30 -- at four years and $48 million.
The Hornets will obviously miss Walker for the foreseeable future, but they're also confident with Roberts, too.
In Walker's stead on Saturday, Roberts finished with a team-high 17 points (5 of 9 shooting) against the Knicks, including going 6 for 6 from the charity stripe.
"He played really well," Clifford said of Roberts. "One of the advantages of bringing him here (as a free agent) was he started so many games last year (in New Orleans) that he's comfortable in the role."
For Roberts, being thrown into a vital starting role won't faze him one bit.
"Just to know I can come in and help the team win at the starting point guard position is something you can't teach," he said. "Once you go through it, you have confidence, especially after you've been successful."
