Ian Mahinmi: Successful Surgery
Although no one has officially said so, it looks as if Ian Mahinmi is in fact out for the season. Jeff McDonald covers the story for the Express-News:
Mahinmi originally injured the ankle in a pre-training camp workout on Aug. 4. When swelling refused to subside in a reasonable amount of time, the team commissioned as many as eight MRI tests on the ankle to determine the problem, coach Gregg Popovich said before Saturday’s game against New Orleans.
The bone spur, Popovich said, “showed up on none.”
Eventually, Dr. Richard Ferkel, the Los Angeles-based surgeon who worked on Manu Ginobili’s famously injured left ankle over the summer, recommended exploratory surgery to determine the cause of the sustained pain and swelling in Mahinmi’s ankle. Ferkel found a piece of bone entrapped in the medial aspect of the ankle, and removed it via arthroscopic surgery.
Popovich said he was pleased that the root of Mahinmi’s pain had finally been found, but was dismayed at what he called “a wasted year for the kid.”
“It’s awful for him, awful for us,” Popovich said. “We thought we’d get him on the court this year and get him in games and see what we had. It’s a tough break for everybody.”
In theory, Mahinmi could return this season by posting a quick 6 or 7 week recovery. But this is doubtful. Besides, Pop is tipping his hat by referring to Mahinmi’s season as “wasted.” We wish the best for Mahinmi, especially since he could eventually prove a tremendous help for the Spurs. It’s also nice to have some understanding of what seemed an odd high ankle sprain.
