Word that Rockets forward Ron Artest will be out 7-10 days with a moderate to severe bone bruise in his right ankle didn't alarm my source in the orthopedic medicine field except for one issue.
"Sometimes the bone bruises can be a little hard to distinguish from an early stress reaction or an early stress fracture," said Dr. Nicholas DiNubile, spokesman for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. "Sometimes the early phases of a stress fracture can look like a bone bruise on an MRI."
The news release the Rockets sent out Tuesday made it clear that no stress fracture was found in Artest's ankle. DiNibule said that won't be known for sure until Artest rests the ankle, after which he'll probably have another MRI and most likely X-rays. Chances are, it's a garden-variety bone bruise -- which the majority of basketball players have and don't even realize it, DiNubile said -- but there's a chance something is going on in that ankle that's more troubling. Only time will tell.
"It’s the kind of thing that you really just play it by ear," DiNubile said. "There’s nothing about it that says, 'He’ll be out weeks or months.' It really comes down to how he feels. Sometimes they really hurt and they have to shut them down just to keep things quiet and have them not moving a lot, along with some anti-inflammatories. But this is the kind of thing that usually calms down. Most of them cool off with a little 'R and R.'"
So the Rockets hope.
Knowing Artest, and knowing this type of injury comes down to whether the player is willing or able to play through the pain, I have to believe he'll do everything humanly possible. Artest didn't comment on the injury when we emailed earlier Tuesday, but he did send out an inspirational message to some friends. Suffice it to say, if it's up to Artest, he'll be back as close to that 7-10 day window as anyone in the league would be.
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