Hornets guard Eric Gordon seemed to contradict himself in regard to his now indefinite knee injury, stating initially that there is nothing structurally wrong, but later saying that there likely is. Perhaps the biggest one line bombshell is that he doesn’t know “at all” if or when he’ll be back this season. He went out of his way to repeatedly state how frustrating this is for him, and how dedicated he is to this team and this city.
Gordon, dressed in workout gear and riding the pine when reporters arrived on scene, opened his availability at Hornets practice with a brief statement–
“It’s an honor and privilege just to be part of this organization as a player, I know things haven’t been going as well as far as my status of being injured as far as I’ve been here. I have had recurring injuries, a knee injury, since I’ve been here and it’s just tough as a player to go through these things…”
“As a player I look forward to helping this franchise and I always look out for the best to help this team win. It has been frustrating, very frustrating, as a player not to do your job every day. I only played 9 games last year and I haven’t played a game this year. I haven’t played a preseason game. It’s just frustrating to watch the guys play and me not being a part of it. So that’s what I wanted to start out with. I know from a fans perspective this is frustrating for them, but as a player it’s most frustrating for me and this organization. So I just wanted to put it out there cuz I know it’s tough, but it’s almost all on me and this is an injury that I’m battling with. It’s just a tough time right now for me. and I’m just going through it. This is a great city and a great organization and I definitely want to be a part of it, but being a part of it for me is made playing and what’s preventing me form playing is having this injury.”
He said later that he didn’t have any structural damage, but that he might have some structural damage, a rather clear contradiction to those of us in the room. He’s had MRI’s recently that revealed that he’s ok, but he also said that he’s in a lot of pain. He also said that despite the fact that he’s not waiting for the results of any new MRI’s nor dose he plan to have any, he’s hoping to know a lot about the injury after this weekend.
As for whether or not he suffered a setback between Olympic trials and training camp, he said “sorta”.
He added that he doesn’t know “at all” if or when he’ll be back this season.
Just what Hornets fans wanted to hear…
On a personal note, it’s clear this is tough for him, so perhaps we should try to be a bit more understanding about an injury that none of us have the training and access to properly diagnose.
63 responses to “Eric Gordon Unable to Give Clarity on Knee Injury”
What are you, a shill for the Hornets? The dude is contradicting himself and you say we should be nicer to him! I’ll stop booing him at the arena when he’s on the court competing.
I happen to agree with Joe’s moderation here. It is the mature course.
Let the data present itself. Be open to him being a jerk, him being hurt, and everything else i’m not saying like it. Just realize there are many possible truths here.
I am sorry Joe and Jason. The nicest thing I can do to Eric Gordon is to ignore him from now on. For me, It all started in that interview at Vegas. He did not have to say that his heart was somewhere else. He did not have to brag about his caliber. He even played for Team USA before, We all knew his caliber was high. The worst thing that may happen here is that Gordon never “really” plays for us on a regular basis, he keeps staying injured and that means 50 mil wasted. More importantly, that will unfortunately mean that we could have another player worth 50 mil instead of having the injured Gordon.
Our Hornets looked dynamite last night. Without Gordon!
I said this later, but I understand that the last thing the website or the Hornets need is to have this place become all about bashing Eric Gordon.
Although even Monty himself can’t resist the temptation…
I think we should all try to understand all the possibilities. This includes the infuriating ones and the unfortunate ones. Discussing the possibility of, say, an attitude issue, is one thing. Discussing the motives and facts is great. Just expressing anger has a place, but this is a place for that former sort of discussion first.
I think we can move into that now after a night of sleep. Talk it up. What do we think we know?
Jason,
What more do we need in the way of facts? How much was his salary last year? Divide it by 9 and find his per-game salary. Now, combine his annual salary for this year and say he plays 9 more games.
Now: extrapolate his pergame salary to a full season and ask yourself: is he worth that?
Worth doesn’t enter into until we can trade him, which is 6 weeks from now, plus we need his consent and can’t trade him to the Suns.
The team last night look pretty solid without him. If he ever comes back, he can be a boost. For now, I think it would behoove us all to think of the Hornets as the team on the floor . . . and there is plenty to be excited about there.
Be nice to him? That is laughable. The kid bashed this organization twice during the off season. Kid is a professional basketball player and should act like on. This whole thing smells funky…
I sincerely doubt this kid is faking an injury and risking his entire career just to be spiteful to the New Orleans Hornets. Who knows what’s going on with him? Maybe it’s mental or maybe he just doesn’t have a body that can handle the world of professional athletics or maybe it’s something that we haven’t even thought of.
As Hornets fans, we have a lot to look forward to over the next few seasons. Personally, I refuse to let this Eric Gordon drama overshadow that.
I think we have a coupe of ways to look at this:
1) We should be nicer to him as member of the organization that we would like to see succeed, because his success then furthers our success. A supportive environment will make everyone’s lives easier.
or
2) We should be frustrated as heck. Let’s be honest here: this is a young man who had a history of injury problems – including the one season he’d been in New Orleans; who expressed a desire to play somewhere else; who has never been an All-Star; who was not Rookie of the Year; and the list goes on. We factually awarded a max contract to a player that – no matter how you slice it – was not deserving of it.
In short: I believe we are reaping what we sowed. The handwriting was on the wall and our brass just kept making excuses. C’est la vie, go Anthony Davis and the players healthy enough to play.
Did the Hornets have any kind of injury clause as a pre-condition to his contract? If he doesn’t play this year, then what is the likelyhood he’ll ever play again, and wouldn’t it be better for the Hornets to get out of having him take up a roster spot if it continues to look like he’ll just be on the bench? Maybe it’s too soon to do anything, but the more this goes on, the more it makes sense to move on.
Why did the front office decided to match the Suns offer in the first place when Gordon clearly stated that he was going to be dissappointed if the Hornets matched the offer and that “his heart was in Phoenix? This was actually a really bad decision by the front office
How about this, if Kobe bryant was told by doctors his knee is ok, do you think he would go on the floor and play through the pain? The answer is of course yes, because he’s done it. Great players find a way to play, that’s what they do. Obviously, we can’t say that about Gordon.
tissue paper
With all respect, We all knew about this injury before signing Eric Gordon to a max deal. Demps and We hoped that He will get well and get back on the court soon. Looks like that’s not happening. This whole game started last January when He rejected our extension offer. He wanted to go, We did not let him do it and We know have an indefinitely injured max player. He won the game for sure, but looks like we lost over the short term.
We will see “if” and “when” he plays. But I hate seeing 50 mil given to an injured player. “If” He gets back on the court this season or later, He will definitely make this team better “when” he plays. This really smells like a Greg Oden kind of story to me and we unfortunately all know how that story ended.
This will give lots of minutes to Austin Rivers and Darius Miller which is something good.
We all saw how our team played neck-to-neck to a respected Spurs team. We saw Gordon playing for us last year and We saw his caliber. Yes, his caliber is high on the court and he can help his teammates carry this team higher. But if he is injured his caliber is at the “couch potato” level for me. (Because, he tweets a lot about watching other teams on TV)
By the way, I hope Gordon does not end up like Allan Houston. That will suck.
I think no one risks the kind of $$$$ the Hornets comitted to Gor-done without an insurance policy or preformance clause of some sort. Cover your a$$ at all costs!!!
It’s sad that this is good news to me. I thought that maybe Gordon was faking the injury in an attempt to make his way out of town, at least that seems out of play now with his comments about the organization. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year anyway and maybe this is a blessing in disguise if we lose enough games to get a top 10 or top 5 pick to add to this already promising core. At the end of the day I think we should take it easy on Gordon as long as he’s humble about it. We made our decision and now we need to stick it out. We still have a lot of cap room even with his contract.
For the first time I now question Dell Demps judgment on this entire issue. I think most of his choices have been good or excellent and I know we have a lot of cap space to play with next year, but his decision to go with Gordon despite the multiple warning signs might well come back to haunt him … even Tom Benson has to take pause after spending $58 million for …. nothing (so far). Hell we might as well have kept Marco and Jarrett and got some draft picks from Phoenix last summer.
Erica Gordon is not worth the paper his contract was printed on. She doesn’t want to be here and never did. I say trade her to another small market team and let them deal with his whining. If the injury claims are legit, then we shouldn’t have paid so much for a player that has not played a complete season yet. I love the rest of the team and the effort they give on the court. Regardless of the win loss record at the end of the season, we can all be proud of these guys.
Hey, I see what you did! You turned Eric Gordon into a woman! How clever!
All the same, this post is offensive to women. Have you ever seen a WNBA game? Those are some tough broads. Eric Gordon may be a turd but let’s not drag the ladies into it.
Especially since it’s documented that women can endure more pain than men.
Women love being called broads.
Now that I have watched it a few times it seems there is a genuine frustration about not playing. But Dell Demps has to be questioned for some of this and the CP3 trade in general.
I hear ya’ll fans and for the most part we all AGREE. We have no clue what’s up with his knee or why management was hell bent on proving that the CP3 trade worked by keeping him and matching the SUNS offer sheet. The biggest thing we achieved from the CP3 trade was long term CAP flexibility. EG is a solid (6’3) SHOOTING Guard, which means that even on a healthy knee that is can not be a foundation player. Allen Iverson can not find his way back to the league because a SHORT SHOOTING guard is great as a sixth man, and with the right quickness and speed and shooting touch may last from age 18-27 but with age and slowing down a little, it is nearly impossible for a SHOOTING guard of that height to create his own shot on a daily basis against taller , bigger , quicker and stronger defenders. EG, we pray that you can find health and happiness in your life and Dell we understand that you are human and intitled to the EGO we all fight in ourselves but EG is not nor will not ever be a long term solution. Realistically at this point, our FOCUS has to be Austin (DOC JR) Rivers. Last night he showed that he has the heart to play the position of shooting guard and at 6″5 with a longer wing span he would be fine but that alone should be our focus. Austin, if you reading this… This next statement will change your life coming from a former SHOOTING guard myself. Slow your game down when you have the ball in your hands. You have quickness and speed but as a shooting guard is can be used against us. If you bump and body a man dribbling enough as he is going full speed, you will frustrate him and take him out of his game. KOBE and MIKE were both great at only using their speed and quickness to pick to get to spots on the court that they are comfortable scoring from. Slow down, relax, use your handles to create the distance more so than your speed and you will be able to then see the court better and make plays for your self and others. In summer league, Pre-season and last night you played with something to prove. Here in Louisiana ( You are on the COURT) so we riding with you. Find the spots you like on the court and practice using your peed and quickness to get there and only there and beyond then let the game come slow and naturally to you. As for EG, this kid (RIVERS) is a class act, my money on him anyway……
Don’t let this overshadow the bright future of the rest of the Hornets organization. I was at the game last night. Davis looked great in his debut, Aminu was flying all over the place, Vasquez looks like he’s capable of running the point, and Rivers will get better. He’s a young kid with plenty of room to grow. And those guys are 19, 22, 25, and 20 respectively. I’m pumped for this season regardless and i’ll be back in the hive on Friday to watch them against the Jazz. Fan up NOLA!
Boo ya! Couldn’t agree more!
I’m wondering about the Hornet’s medical team. I know from experience that not every injury shows up on an MRI, but after six weeks of rest & anti inflamatories with no improvement, then it seems like time to go in and take a look. I wondered why they let him ‘rest’ for several months last year before they did the scope. New medical team anyone?
As for EG10 – even though I think he is a HUGE wimp, I refuse to Boo anyone on my own team. No matter what. So, no boos from me until he’s wearing someone else’s jersey.
Yeah, I’ve always thought are medical team could be better ’cause this team has ALWAYS been haunted by injuries. Remember when Tyson Chandler seemed injury-prone? And now, after he left, he’s older yet he never seems to get hurt. Funny how that happened……….
Same medical as it always was?
If not, I would not generalize about the care.
It became obvious this summer that the guy is a complete douchebag. When the Hornets signed him I was still happy about it because he’s a great talent, and for some reason I didn’t think he’d actually stoop this low.
The fact that he never goes into any kind of specifics about his injury is the big giveaway here. He won’t say those things because then he’d have to keep track of all his lies, something he just doesn’t have the mental faculty to do.
I told you so!!!! time to trade this scum or get an issurance policy so the can release him and get that money back
until 7/14/13:
1) cant trade him anywhere w/o consent
2) cant trade him at all to PHX
And can trade at all until 12/15 this year.
after 7/14/13:
Gordon to Suns
Kendall Marshall + picks to Hornets
Ready. The problem is solved.
Can’t go to suns on this deal. I posted restrictions in comments to another post.
The hornets could really use a player like gordon for situations like last night. We are a team with a tremendous amount of upside, the only flaw that I can possible see, is a dynamic guard that can make the big shot when we need it. He is no doubt in my mind a big piece of the puzzle talent wise, but I am not sure if that is the kind of PERSON we need in our locker room. We thrive off of people who have a good attitude and want to be there, and I am not sure he fits that role.
Made sense why Hornets matched Suns b/c you don’t let a player like Gordon walk for nothing. I think Hornets brass always intended to match but expected him to come in this season & have a strong, solid 1st half. That way, he’d make himself more attractive in a deadline trade this season. I’d ship him (& Vasquez) off to his homestate Pacers for Hill & George all day. He’d bounce NOLA (what he wants) and Hornets get something in return for him ~win-win for everyone.
Someone needs to tell Gordon that in order for him to bounce NOLA, he needs to do what many professional players before him did ~show out on the court. He’ll never leave NOLA sitting on end of the bench.
team doctors:
New Orleans Hornets
Misty Suri, MD. Dr. Suri is a physician with Ochsner Health System in New Orleans. He earned his medical degree from the Chicago Medical School and completed his residency in orthopedic surgery at the Ochsner Clinic Foundation. Dr. Suri also completed a sports medicine fellowship at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic of the Carolinas in Greenville, S.C. In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. Suri has finished several research projects and was granted a traveling fellowship with Richard Hawkins, MD, founder of the Steadman Hawkins Clinic of the Carolinas. His primary research focuses on cartilage repair and healing. Dr. Suri is a member of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine and American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Scott Montgomery, MD. Dr. Montgomery is a physician with Ochsner Health System in New Orleans. He earned his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis and completed his residency in orthopedic surgery at Tulane University. Dr. Montgomery also completed a fellowship in sports medicine at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Montgomery has conducted extensive research on posterior cruciate ligament reconstructions and knee dislocations. He is affiliated with the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine and Arthroscopy Association of North America. He serves as a consultant reviewer for the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Matthew McQueen, MD. Dr. McQueen is a physician with Ochsner Health System in New Orleans. He earned his medical degree from the University of Tennessee in Memphis and completed a residency in orthopedic surgery at the Naval Aviation Medicine Institute in Pensacola, Fla. Dr. McQueen also completed a sports medicine fellowship at the Hughston Clinic Sports Medicine in Columbus, Ga. He was a volunteer physician at the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics and is affiliated with several local universities.
Deryk Jones, MD. Dr. Jones is the section head of sports medicine and cartilage restoration at Ochsner Clinic Foundation. He serves as a team physician for the New Orleans Hornets and New Orleans Saints. Dr. Jones serves in leadership roles with the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine. Dr. Jones has a professional interest in minimally invasive joint replacement, traumatic fixation surgery and arthroscopic procedures. He earned his medical degree at Stanford (Calif.) University School of Medicine and completed the Harvard Combined Orthopaedics Residency Program in Boston. His additional training includes a fellowship in sports medicine at the University of Pittsburgh.
[…] the media on Thursday. Unfortunately, he utterly failed to clarify the situation. Check out the video above from Hornets247.com to see him speak, and check out this report from Jimmy Smith for The New Orleans Times-Picayune for […]
I feel a little bad for him even though he’s been a jerk until now. I don’t agree with booing a player on your own team, either. I’d assume he’s still in the Hornets’ long-term plans and if this thing works out, I don’t want to be the guy that booed one of our main guys. Like others, I don’t think he’s faking; I would hope it’s just a misdiagnosed situation and not him being a wimp but, as of now, I’m assuming the latter.
In pharmacy, one of the things you have to do in a hospital setting is assume the patient is right if they report pain. It’s always hard to give the benefit of the doubt, but pain management is a serious issue.
That said, there should be a clause in contracts to minimize salary under certain conditions. Does anybody know anything about NBA players contracts in regards to injury?
There is a positive side to all of this:
Positive side: -we end up getting a top 5 to top 10 draft pick.
– we add another young gun superstar w/ A.Davis
-It can sets us up to Form a possible dynamic duo or big 3 thru Draft and free agency
The negative side:
– we lose the respect we have in the NBA
– we lose another great player
-He hurts our chances of making the playoffs.
– EG waste The HORNETS money by being injury prone.
ETC. The bottom line is in due time we will rise from ashes and get back to the top. Best case scenario we become the next
The EG thing is so frustrating simply because we want our team to win! There is a slim possibility that his injury is legitimate. I/We find it hard to believe based on “my heart’s in Phoenix” statement. However, let’s give Dell the benefit of the doubt because general managers are hired to put the best talent on the floor to appease the “need” to win by owners and fans. Of course, we’re wondering why give an injury prone, young player that type of money? But the NBA is a competitive business and we don’t know all of the scenarios involved in that regard. Let’s not forget that the Hornets did not/do not have a reputation among players as a place that many of them want to play. Demps and Williams are attempting to change that culture. As much as I think EG is full of it and as much as I think signing him was a mistake, I’m willing to wait it out because of all the variable involved. The Hornets looked good last night and I think Aminu is breaking out and beginning to maximize his potential. EG is a small part of the package.
Let me correct the last sentence. EG is a major part of the package!!
is EG boycotting us?he trained in the US olympic squad and the guy is not hurt and then suddenly after not making it to the roster he is re-injured again….wow
This guy is a crook, and the Hornets should trade him.
Agreed.
Why keep an Audi if you always have to put it in the shop?. It’s obvious dude doesn’t want to be here, but unfortunately he has a no-trade clause. So we have deal with his little kid games for at least season.
This is a general question to all readers. Do you know if a team might do anything about a player who pretends to be injured? Can a player refuse to play even though the doctors say nothing is wrong with the player? What happens if the team wants the player to play but the player keeps insisting that he has pain and he refuses to play? Should there and could there be such an injury-clause in the contract? Does the NBA allow that? etc etc. You know what I am trying to say. Any comments? Thanks…
There is such a thing as an injury clause, as well as a clause in case Gordon retires, and finally the buy out clause. Without the actual contract in front of me, we can only assume. Insurance would cover the injury clause. There is also a clause that was used on Monta ellis, which stated if any player engaged in offseason activities such as motorcycle riding and became injured, he would forfeit his contract. The Warriors only took a years salary from Monta. Greg Oden was injured and Portland paid out, so I believe we are only left with maybe a conduct detrimental to a team clause. Sad we are talking about this after one game
I’d guess there is a recourse, but I think it’d be meaningless. By the time it was proven, went to court, the union was done with it, etc., they money would all be paid out and it’d be spent. The cap hit would be there the entire time and the money would be irrecoverable.
Thanks a lot for the answers. Anybody know how much of Gordon’s 58 mil is guaranteed? All of it?
Player option on last season.
Monty thinks it is BS, clearly.
BIG strike. But I think the site administrators have to got the route they did. Otherwise the whole website could just become about venting over Gordon. Nobody needs that.
I will say that no matter what team I rooted for, watching this interview was like watching a train wreck. Eric Gordon has made NOT made it a secret he has never been happy in New Orleans. And I have never seen a player hedge so severely on an entire season before diagnosis. They ALWAYS say that they’ll play, even if they are hurt, just to be positive perhaps.
I have seen it compared to Vince in Toronto.
One way or another, the way he presents himself is doing him no favors. An immature young man making short term decisions has been my impression since he got here.
I am not advocating that he risk injury on the team’s behalf, that is never warranted. But I think it is pretty clear the team doubts his word.
Hate to say this, but Eric Gordon is pretty much done in NO. It’s not necessarily that he will never play another game. But it’s been obvious that Gordon is a complete disaster. Best case situation is that he really does have a legitimate injury (great!) which is keeping him out of games. Worst case scenario is that he just doesn’t want to play and is willing to sabotage his season. Either way, it’s obvious that he’s done.
One can be angry at Gordon, but the management and, more to the point, David Stern, has to share a significant portion of the blame for this mess. Signing Gordon was arguably one of the worst decisions that the franchise has ever made in its history. All the warning signs were there. The long injury history, the complete lack of enthusiasm about playing in NO pretty much from the very beginning. But unfortunately, the organization was forced to max him out since otherwise they would have gotten next to nothing in the Chris Paul trade. In effect, I think they got worse than next to nothing. Just think, Gordon had only half a good season in his career before he came to NO. He was increasingly injured each year he played. He played 9 games last season. He showed total disdain for NO after getting the offer from Phoenix, and STILL, the Hornets matched and committed to him to the tune of a max deal.
What a mess!
I wish We could get over the idea of getting nothing but Gordon from the Paul trade back in July. Too late. I think We eventually got Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers in return of the Chris Paul trade! That is going to be much bigger than Gordon. If Demps could only think that way, we would have much larger cap space next summer.
I don’t know what’s going on with Gordon but apparently he “finally” even got his coach frustrated which is not something good.
One thing is clear, if Gordon wants out of if we want to trade him earlier than 2016 when his contract expires; He’d better play and showcase himself rather than staying away from the court.
He was healthy enough to compete in the Olympic Trials, but not now after 4 months? The pain is worse now? I just don’t understand, and the medical team (which is top notch and the best in the Gulf Coast Region) is probably scratching their heads too, but pain is a difficult thing to diagnose and even harder to treat.
PS – Joe never said we should be nice to Gordon… he said we should try to be a bit more understanding about an injury, and that it was clear this issue is tough for Gordon.
As for booing EG, I’ll admit I did boo at the game, if only to send him a message it didn’t seem he understood yet, that he is not perceived as a part of this team or community and his actions and words matter. I think he heard that message loud and clear with the boos, and this is why he is talking now. Mission accomplished, even if he is still trying to get his story straight.
Maybe Gordon sends us a message: “So you booed me last night?, Then when I woke up this morning I decided not to play!” This relationship really sucks. 🙂
It is really sad. Media even debates whether Derrick Rose will be back before the end of the season or not and here we have Eric Gordon implicating that he might not play till the end of the season.
These are my last words for Eric Gordon until he puts on his jersey and scores a point. There is no point in wasting my time and energy in this injured player for no good in return.
requiem for willie green…
The Hornets got had on this a $58 million dollar investment on a player that might play 10 of 82 games for the next 4 years.Eric Gordon should be arrested for taken money that not his because he’s not worth it.It’s a PR disaster forsure with clueless Monty don’t know what to Say and a front office thats afraid to admit they re-signed an injury prone bum.Desperation is the word.We all know we want superstars here to prove outsiders that we’re a major leauge city.At the same time we don’t need no has been like Gordon sitting on the bench night after night.Send him packing stop defending this creep.
Dude is not injured. Dude is disabled. Void his contract.
Look, I know we are all upset about this situation but I honestly believe he’s frustrated about not playing.he was at volunteer practices two hours early constantly during off season and says he is commited to the team. The hornets shouldn’t rush him back just to appease the fans and risk ending his career. I for one can’t wait to get him on the court. We need to have his back until we have more information. On the plus side, this will give rivers more time to develop his NBA game. I for one have your back eg, and I hope to see you balling lights out soon