Injury Report Jordan Farmar

One of the knees in question belongs to Jordan Farmar, the Lakers' backup point guard, who tore the lateral meniscus in his left knee last Friday night in Miami. Farmar twisted the knee while going in for a layup and has been unable to play since. An MRI revealed the tear, and after some opinions were shared, the decision was made to clean it up with surgery.

Each knee has a pair of menisci, lateral or towards the outside of the knee, and medial, or on the inside. The two disc shaped structures provide some stability to the knee joint, but mainly serves as soft cushioning material between the tibia and the femur that helps to absorb shock in the joint. The problem is that the material must be pliable in order to serve that purpose, so sometimes when the knee is twisted awkwardly, the tissue can tear.

There are all different kinds of meniscus tears in athletes, and just as many surgical options on how to fix them. Some players won't even feel them initially, only becoming symptomatic after months or years of chronic exposure. Obviously that's the best case scenario. Some are so small that they can just be removed (a partial menisectomy) and the frayed ends shaved down to maintain a smooth surface. Others can tear so badly that knees become locked at certain angles because the tear impedes movement of the two bones. In these cases you...read full article