Pau Gasol has partial tear of plantar fascia, out at least six weeks
Feb 6, 2013, 6:05 PM EDT
Reuters You can take all your Pau Gasol deadline trade deals and walk them over to the trash can…
Gasol will be out for six weeks with a partially torn plantar fascia, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. The Lakers confirmed he is out but refused to provide a timetable until he gets a second opinion. But six weeks is the minimum and the injury announcement was expected after Gasol said he heard a pop in his foot late in the Lakers win over the Nets Tuesday. Berger had a few more details.
One option for Gasol is rehab, with estimated timetable of 6-8 weeks. Surgery would mean 10-12 weeks, with better chance of full recovery.—
Ken Berger (@KBergCBS) February 06, 2013
Gasol, who had an MRI in Boston today after injuring foot in Brooklyn last night, is expected to get a second opinion in the coming days.—
Ken Berger (@KBergCBS) February 06, 2013
Gasol would be back in late March if he just gets rehab, in time to help the Lakers during their playoff push. Surgery could cost him the rest of the season.
The plantar fascia is the thick membrane that runs along the bottom of the foot. Gasol had been suffering inflammation there — a pretty common situation among NBA players — and the treatment is primarily rest. But Gasol played through it and… here we are.
The Lakers had been 3-0 with Pau Gasol as the starter since Dwight Howard went down with a shoulder injury. The Lakers also are without backup big Jordan Hill, out for the season following hip surgery.
This is going to put more pressure on Howard to step up and perform — the Lakers playoff chances basically will ride on what his bad back and shoulder can support. A banged up Howard has not lived up to expectations in Los Angeles, but this is the kind of situation where people expect their stars to step up and take charge.
It’s on Howard to do that.
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