Injuries Never Seem to Stop

It all started when Vlade Divac decided his back wasn’t firm enough, nor was his desire, even with $5.4 million left in the last year of his contract.

The Lakers have since experienced a cavalcade of injuries and ailments, from Aaron McKie’s quadriceps to Slava Medvedenko’s back, so many stacked one on top of the other that Coach Phil Jackson had never really seen a team so banged up.

“Not one that I’ve coached,” he said Wednesday.

Chris Mihm is out indefinitely because of a severely sprained ankle, Devean George is out a while longer because of a slightly fractured wrist, and Laron Profit is no longer with the team because of a ruptured Achilles’ tendon.

Medvedenko, out for the season because of a herniated disk, was waived earlier this month so the Lakers could sign Jim Jackson, and McKie only recently returned to the active list after sitting out 50 games.

To say the least, it has been a busy season for trainer Gary Vitti.

Some of the injuries themselves have been distinctive, if not obscure.

McKie had a tear in a tendon that connected his quadriceps to his kneecap. It was initially called a slight tear, but it never quite healed until recently.

George is out with what is called a unicortical fracture, a crack in the top layer of the bone.

“We really have no idea about this injury,” Jackson said. “It’s such an unusual injury that the hand specialist has never seen anything quite like it before. If someone whacked him on the wrist, it would have to be Karate Kid to create the situation that was created for him.”

*

Less than two years ago, the Minnesota Timberwolves were battling the Lakers for the Western Conference title.

Now, they are likely to be shut out of the playoffs a second consecutive season, even with Kevin Garnett and a veteran roster.

“It’s really hard to anticipate what they’re going through up there,” Jackson said, before talking specifically about Garnett. “It takes its toll on a player. I don’t know what’s happening entirely, but you watch a great player have a situation like that, there’s a lot of sympathy.”