McGrady undergoes season-ending knee surgery

Feb 24, 2009 - 10:41 PM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Houston Rockets swingman Tracy McGrady underwent season-ending microfracture surgery on his left knee Tuesday.

A former two-time scoring champion, McGrady struggled after undergoing an arthroscopic procedure on the same knee last May, never getting back to 100 percent physically.

After missing 21 games this season, he decided Friday that he needed surgery, which was performed by Dr. Brian Cole in Chicago.

"I believe his thoughts on this are that he doesn't want to have to go through what he did last year with a knee that began swelling, and requires injections and removal of fluids from the joint in order to play, Rockets team physician Dr. Tom Clanton said.

"He wants to try to do something that has the chance of getting the knee back to as close as normal as he can. That's what the microfracture procedure offers."

In 35 games this season, McGrady averaged only 15.6 points, 5.0 assists and 4.4 rebounds while shooting a career-low 38.8 percent from the field.

"The surgery has been completed, and by all accounts it was a success," McGrady announced on his web site. "I'm looking forward to the rehab process, but will need some time to rest at home with my family before that begins."

Clanton said that the 29-year-old McGrady is facing a recovery time of six to 12 months.

"He's under 30 (years old)," Clanton added. "That's a really good thing. Yes, he's played in the league 12 years, so he's had a lot of wear and tear and stress on his knee. But he has a great looking knee joint in the weight-bearing part."

McGrady has yet to play a full campaign with Houston thanks to a myriad of injuries. The seven-time All-Star came the closest in his first season with the team, when he appeared in 78 contests.

The Rockets are 15-6 without McGrady this season.