Currently, the Milwaukee Bucks are .5 ahead of the Bulls for second place in the ridiculously bad Central Division, and final playoff spot in the East. But today, the Bucks lost the player who is to them what Ben Sheets is to the Brewers: a key star who is well paid, yet always injured.
REDD TO MISS REMAINDER OF SEASON WITH KNEE INJURY*
Milwaukee Bucks General Manager John Hammond announced today that guard Michael Redd will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his left knee during the second period of the Bucks loss at Los Angeles on Sunday, January 10.
Redd, 30, underwent an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) exam this morning in Phoenix, AZ, which revealed the injury. Surgery to repair the injury will be scheduled at a date to be determined.
“We are deeply disappointed for Michael who worked so hard to make it back from this injury,” said Hammond. “We know Michael will work tirelessly to get himself healthy again and we will support him fully in his efforts.
“Although Michael is out for the season, we still have over half the season to play. That gives all of our players, especially our younger guys, the opportunity to earn more playing time the rest of the season.”
Redd suffered the same injury last season in a home win over Sacramento on January 24, 2009, and had surgery on March 3, 2009, to repair the injury.
“It’s hard to explain the emotions that I’m feeling,” said Redd. “I know the amount of hard work it will take for me to get back to playing and helping our team, but I will continue to put my trust in God to get me though this.”
In 18 games this season (12 starts), Redd averaged 11.9 points with 3.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.1 steal in 27.3 minutes.
Redd is in his 10th season with the Bucks, tied with Junior Bridgeman (75-84, 86-87) and Sidney Moncrief (79-89) for the most seasons in team history. On January 5 at New Jersey, Redd moved past Bob Dandridge (11,478) for fourth place on the franchise list in scoring and currently stands at 11,510 points, 84 points behind Sidney Moncrief’s third place mark (11,594).
This season Redd passed Sidney Moncrief (4,000) for seventh place in field goals made on December 16 against the Lakers and also passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (2,407) for second place in free throws made on December 26 against San Antonio. He’s one three-pointer shy of 1,000 for his career and 52 away from Ray Allen’s (1,051) franchise leading total for three pointers. Through Sunday’s game, there are 53 players in NBA history with at least 1,000 three pointers.
Redd is also tied for seventh place with Glenn Robinson for games played (568), in fifth place for minutes played (19,205) and 36 steals shy of 600 for his career; just 43 away from Junior Bridgeman and Terry Cummings’ ninth place total in franchise history (607