The AltRaps Blog

Raptors F Garbajosa to have surgery, out indefinitely - NBA - Yahoo! Sports
Garbajosa was appreciative that the Raptors understood his plight.

He has thanked Toronto general manager Bryan Colangelo and assistant Maurizio Gherardini for standing by him during his injury troubles.

But if the injury turns out to be linked to the one Garbajosa suffered last season - he broke his left ankle in March - the Raptors might be expected to be angry that the forward played at the EuroBasket for Spain in September while not fully fit.

Even before this latest injury problem, Garbajosa had played limited minutes for the Raptors this season, even leading his international teammate Pau Gasol to suggest he was being “punished” for his decision to play at the EuroBasket.

However, Garbajosa told Spanish newspaper El Pais that the Raptors have been supportive.

“The Raptors have acted really well with me,” Garbajosa said in El Pais-Spanish national newspaper. “They have been worried about me and have spoken to several specialists. … I had a meeting with Bryan Colangelo and Maurizio Gherardini. They tried to cheer me up.

“In that meeting, nothing came out of my sporting situation, the fact that I haven’t had much playing time. It wasn’t the time to talk about that but of course, it is an uncomfortable situation but its the coach’s decision.”

Garbajosa added that he was upset by speculation that his relationship with the team had deteriorated.

“I am not angry but I am annoyed that when everyone is working to help me that speculation is made on whether the club is against me or other stories,” he said.

The 29-year-old admitted he was mystified by his latest problem, which he said was close to where he broke the ankle but not in the same place.

“The doctors have seen something strange in my last MRI, and I have had to stop playing and training until a specialist examines my leg,” he said. “It has created a big mess. It is in the same leg that I underwent surgery on back in March.

“But what they have seen is not exactly in the same area, which was the left ankle, but close to it. I am not calm because it is a strange situation, even more so considering that I feel no pain.”