Lamar Odom won’t miss games, Theo Ratliff undergoes knee surgery
Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom is not expected to miss any games after an MRI showed that there was no serious damage on his right foot, the team announced on Tuesday 16 November.
Odom, who is averaging 15.1 points and 10.9 rebounds in the Lakers’ first ten games this season, complained about his ailing right foot during the second half of their game against the Phoenix
Suns on Sunday 14 November. Despite being bothered by the injury, he managed to finish the game for the Lakers and tallied 22 points and 11 rebounds, although they fell short and absorbed their second defeat of the season.
The 11-year veteran forward said his busy schedule during the summer is slowly affecting his condition. Odom played for the USA Basketball team that won the gold medal in the 2010 FIBA World
Basketball Championship in Istanbul, Turkey.
On the other hand, the Lakers’ front-line will still be short-handed after Theo Ratliff underwent an arthroscopic knee surgery on Tuesday 15 November that will sideline him for four to six
weeks.
The 37-year-old veteran centre, Ratliff, who was signed by the Lakers during the off-season to beef up their injury-riddled front-line, missed the Lakers' last two games and an MRI on
Monday 15 November revealed that he would need surgery.
“We're not surprised,” said Lakers head coach Phil Jackson on Ratliff’s surgery. “He's had some issues trying to get on the court after back-to-backs or practices and stuff. We knew something
was going on even though he was game trying to go through it.”
Without Ratliff, who averaged 8.4 minutes in the Lakers’ first eight games this season, Phil Jackson will be forced to give Pau Gasol additional minutes, until injured centre Andrew Bynum
returns for the Lakers. Jackson is also considering to give Luke Walton and Ron Artest some minutes playing the power-forward spot.
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