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In his piece discussing that very issue of the potentially devastating long-term effects of Duke star Chelsea Gray's injury, Graham Hays of espnW referred back to quote from Duke's athletic trainer that might help offer some insight into what kind of medical risk WNBA evaluators might consider Gray.
"Her knees aren't the best-looking things in the world," Duke athletic trainer Summer McKeehan said in October. "Anybody who watches her run down the court, her knees are turned in. To me, she doesn't look like an athlete the way you would think. So yeah, she did have some precursors, or precursors for having some knee issues potentially, or hip or ankle. But I think [the dislocation last season] was extremely freak -- the way she landed, what had happened to her knee when she landed -- because she's never had any knee problems before."
Too many times in women's basketball, the first time proves to be only the beginning.
With the expected recovery time for Gray's injury post-surgery at about four months, it's reasonable for a WNBA team to believe that she could return to the court in time to contribute this season. However, the question is whether this is one of those lingering injuries that can rob a talented player of their ability to reach their potential.
