In March, the Los Angeles Lakers announced that Jared Dudley had suffered a right MCL tear. The initials fears regarding Dudley’s injury were that he was going to miss the remainder of the season.
Dudley’s fears, however, went far beyond that. He thought his playing days were over.
“I had a Grade 3 tear, MCL, off the bone, and so when I had second, third opinions, there were doctors saying that I had to get surgery, I was going to be out 4-6 months,” Dudley said. “That would have been my career.”
Dudley opted against having surgery in March in large part because he wanted to be around the team and continue to mentor the Lakers’ younger players, but it turns out that the benefits of not having surgery were even greater than he ever could have imagined.