Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley describes his status while rehabbing from a sore Achilles/heel. Ronald Tillery/The Commercial Appeal
Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace sent an email to MVP season-ticket holders early Saturday and announced that point guard Mike Conley will require season-ending surgery "to smooth a small bone protrusion" in his left heel.
The team insists that Conley will be healthy before the Grizzlies open training camp in the fall. His recovery is expected to take up to six months.
“He always knew he could have done this. He wanted to avoid it,” said Mike Conley Sr., who also is his son’s agent. “It wasn’t like he saw somebody and they said he needed to do it. He didn’t want to be out four or five months this season if he could avoid it. But he’ll be back at top shape in five months.”
Conley and the Grizzlies agreed that he should have the surgery about a week ago. He hasn’t played since Nov. 13.
“What does that mean for the balance of this season, which to date has not gone as we had planned and hoped?” Wallace wrote in the email to season-ticket holders. “Simply put, we are committed to playing hard and playing the right way night in and night out, while developing our young talent and instilling within them the winning culture we have built in Memphis.
“Beyond our play on the court the rest of this year, we will remain aggressive in evaluating opportunities to improve our team, whether that’s through player development, the NBA draft, free agency or trades.”
Conley’s ability to play again this season would have required a high tolerance for pain, and he still would have been in and out of the lineup. Conley was still feeling sharp pain in the heel at the end of his rehab cycle.
“It’s been a tough time for him. This (surgery) will fix the heel 100 percent,” Conley Sr. said. “He just wants to be able to train hard again this summer and be pain free. The good thing about this decision is everybody in the organization was in line. This decision is in everyone’s best interest.”
Conley is expected to resume physical activity two weeks after surgery.
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