Hines Ward has no ACL in his left knee

[jj cain]

Just an interesting note. He lost his in a childhood injury & doesn't have an ACL in his left knee.

I'd say he's done okay.

[benefactor]

I know it's been mentioned before...but I think the 100 post minimum rule before you can start a thread should be seriously considered.

[Obstructed_View]

Just an interesting note. He lost his in a childhood injury & doesn't have an ACL in his left knee.

I'd say he's done okay.

Since I just posted exactly that story with far more detail in the relevant thread, there's not really any need for this one.

[jj cain]

My bad, I didn't see it. Sorry guys.

BTW, not sure if they were mentioned, but Elway & Thurman Thomas played without one for 1/2 of their careers too.

[MaNu4Tres]

Comparing football and basketball is comparing apples and oranges. There's 82 games of constant movement on the hardwood, which is a lot more detrimental to a players knee's/ ankles than playing 16 games a year on artificial turf.

A better example would be Sean Elliott, who played his whole career without an ACL in one of his knees.

[jj cain]

True, but Elliott didn't have DB's diving into his leg either.

Blair is also a positional type player. He's not an above the rim type, rim crasher player.

I hope & absolutely think this will be no big deal. Obviously it hasn't been for the last 2 years.

[Thompson]

My gosh people in this forum can be rude.

[phyzik]

I think they just didnt "image" deep enough (Im no doctor but I assume there are are levels they can image at, just like and MRI), his ACL's are probably covered up and absorbed, in otherwards not where they expect normal ACL's to be. No way you can play as intense as he did in college with "nothing" there. Even so, if they are truelly gone, he should be good for at least 3 years if he takes care of himself.

I've searched Web MD and googling just being curious and there are a few people out there that say it is possible but highly unlikely. He could be the exception though.

[Steve-O-Matic]

If Blair's knees collapse while picking his luggage up off of the baggage carousel at the SA airport and he never plays another game of hoops in his life he was STILL worth the risk/pick at 37. That being said, I'm of the belief that the concern about his knees has been vastly over-cooked and that he's going to have a nice career in the NBA. If his knees were that fragile they likely would have given way already while still in a tender post-surgery state. As it is he's played hoops for 2-3 years since without any incident and built up the strength in his knees ever since. I think he'll be fine.