Paul Undergoes Successful Thumb Surgery

[mkwest]

PAUL UNDERGOES SUCCESSFUL THUMB SURGERY

8/21/12

The Los Angeles Clippers today announced that All-Star point guard Chris Paul underwent successful surgery this morning to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb. The injury occurred last month during Team USA training camp in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The surgery was performed by Dr. Steven Shin, a hand specialist at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles.

Paul is expected to be sidelined for approximately eight weeks, at which time he is projected to resume all basketball activities including full contact.

Paul went on to help lead Team USA to winning the Gold Medal in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. He started all eight games in the Olympics, averaging 8.3 points, 5.1 assists, an Olympic tournament-high 2.5 steals and 25.8 minutes per game.

Clippers.com

8 weeks puts him at October 16th. That means that he'll miss training camp and at least 3 preseason games.

[mkwest]

PAUL HAS SURGERY ON THUMB

Clippers point guard Chris Paul underwent surgery Tuesday, Aug. 21 to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb. While the team announced Paul’s return may take up to eight weeks, his recovery is not expected to carry into the regular season.

“[The surgery] was something we wanted him to get done now so it doesn’t bother him later,” Clippers head coach Vinny Del Negro said. “He’ll be back for the start of the season.”

According to Del Negro, Paul played with the injury throughout part of last season and again in the Summer Games.

“Chris brought home the gold and had a terrific Olympics,” Del Negro added. “He re-aggravated an injury from last season early in the [Olympic] training process and played through it.”

Eric Patten, Clippers.com

Chris planned to take some time off after the Olympics to rest and to spend time with his family (his wife and he recently welcomed a baby girl into their family). Probably not 8 weeks, but it is what it is. It's good that he's able to take care of it now and not have it be a problem once the season starts. Patten is saying that it is up to 8 weeks, so there is a possibility that he could be ready to go prior to that.

My guess is that he'll participate in training camp (and be in the gym with the guys before then), but won't be involved in full contact activities. Bledsoe will get extended reps in the early part of preseason if CP and Billups are out or limited.

[og15]

Good thing about thumb is that he can still keep in shape.

[Quake Griffin]

yea what exactly was his excuse for being a butterball going into last season?


2 seasons with the clips.
not one training camp.
he got his gold medal but we miss our leader in camp.

[mkwest]

yea what exactly was his excuse for being a butterball going into last season?


2 seasons with the clips.
not one training camp.
he got his gold medal but we miss our leader in camp.

There was not a real training camp last season, and the lockout probably had some effect on his preparation. He wasn't in the greatest shape, but he can still have his conditioning down this year. He'll even be able to participate in certain drills.

It's disappointing that things aren't optimal, but it's not the end of the world either. I'm more concerned with our health in the middle to latter portion of the season. It's unfortunate to be slowed in the beginning, we should be able to manage.

[TheNewEra]

We have insane depth and we can throw a variety of looks at teams. If Billups is fully heralded by season start it's a big non-issue but if Paul and Billups are not ready by season start we could struggle some.

Bledsoe/Green
Crawford/Leslie
Can hopefully hold teams off and would need Blake, Odom, and Butler to pick up the scoring big time

[mkwest]

I think the team is expecting Billups back sometime in November as opposed to training camp. I fully expect Paul to be ready to go from game 1.

The new guys will just get extended minutes in the earlier part of preseason and that should give them an opportunity to get used to their new teammates. In Bledsoe's case, the extra reps just helps him grow as a player.

[thanumba2clippersfan]

I was surprised when I saw that Paul had thumb surgery earlier in the week. Glad it was successful and as long as he's ready for the season then I'm happy.

The Olympics made both Blake and Paul get off season surgeries