Now that the Birmingham native is 100 percent and back playing with team, he has allowed the full description to come out: It was a microfracture procedure on his right knee. The senior said so this morning, and because he did, UA athletic trainer John Morr explained it to me this afternoon.
Yes, Morr said, surgery was presented in the vaguest terms when it happened. The reason was two-fold. One, it's up to a player how much is disclosed. Two, at the time, they still thought Steele would play his senior year. I asked, Were they aware what NBA people would say if they learned it was the dreaded microfracture surgery?
"Yeah, we were cognizant of that," Morr said.
But now that he's healthy, there are no more worries. So...
What is it?
Basically, there are two kinds of knee cartilage. The meniscus and the articular cartilage. Microfracture surgery, which is actually a description of a technique, is done through arthroscopy. Essentially, you create small fractures in the bone, generate blood, and that blood forms a super-clot to act like the cartilage. "It fills in," Morr said.
Understand, from an NBA standpoint, microfracture surgery is a scary, scary term. To some, it's considered a career-ender, and when reporters write about it, they say things like microfracture claims another one.
While it's pretty scary, the results are mixed. It ended the career of Jamal Mashburn, but allowed the Suns Amare Stoudemire to continue to thrive. As for Steele, he reports that he is back to normal. So what's the difference?
"Ron and I sat down after the surgery, and all you have to do is Google NBA and microfracture, and you'll get several responses," Morr said. "He asked me about it, and the guys who have failed from it. I said, after surgery, it really depends on the size and location. If it's weight-bearing, it really limits your ability down the road to have a long career down the road."
"His is not on a weigh-bearing area," Morr said. "It's like, years ago, people heard ACL, they thought a career was done. Now, they don't think twice about it. NBA guys, they hear microfracture, their ears perk up. But then they talk us, talk to the doctors, learn where it's located and how it's not on a weigh-bearing surface, and they feel more comfortable."
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