Andrew Bogut Says He Should “Probably” Worry About Lingering Knee Issue

Andrew Bogut will miss his fourth straight game tonight when the Golden State Warriors take on the Memphis Grizzlies. And though the Aussie big man was originally told his knee injury was minor in nature, Bogut told reporters on Tuesday that he’s now unsure of its severity.

Via Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group:

Asked if it was an overuse injury, Bogut said, “I’m not sure right now. I’ve been told a couple of different things, and I’m trying to narrow it down to exactly what it is. I don’t think it was possibly what I thought it was early on.

“From what I was told, it wasn’t something I should be worried about, but evidently, it probably is.”

Bogut said whatever the injury is, he would not need surgery and declined further comment pending the reevaluation.

This certainly isn’t encouraging, either:

Bogut left Golden State’s win over the Minnesota Timberwolves last Monday early in the first quarter and hasn’t played since. The team listed him with simple tendonitis until today when it changed his status to suffering from knee chondromalacia/bone edema.

Winners of 16 consecutive games and essentially four straight sans Bogut, the Warriors can manage without him – for now. If they’re to make good on this awesome early season run to claim the West’s top playoff seed and make major noise in the spring, though, Steve Kerr’s team will need Bogut around.

He’s not only a darkhorse candidate for Defensive Player of the Year, but offers Golden State’s offense playmaking dynamism the rest of its big men sorely lack. To wit, the Warriors score 111.0 points per 100 possessions with Bogut on the floor and just 104.7 when he’s on the bench. That +6.3 point discrepancy nearly matches Bogut’s +7.1 on-court/off-court split on the other end.

He’s not a household name and doesn’t light up the box score, but Bogut is arguably Golden State’s second most valuable player. The Warriors need him to play at full capacity to contend for a championship, so should take as cautious an approach as possible when it comes to this curious malady – no matter how many losses they mount in the meantime.

What do you think?

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