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Martin to undergo surgery on right knee

Aaron J. Lopez, Rocky Mountain News

Published November 9, 2006 at midnight

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Kenyon Martin is out of answers.

Standing in the hallway outside the Nuggets locker room Wednesday night, Martin shook his head in disbelief after learning he would need arthroscopic surgery to remove loose cartilage in his right knee.

The news came just hours after the power forward talked about being healthy again after a long recovery from microfracture surgery on his left knee in May 2005.

"I need something. Rabbit's foot, something," Martin said. "I have no idea at this point what Kenyon needs to do to avoid stuff like this."

A surgery date has not been set, and Martin said he has no idea how long he will be sidelined. He sat out the Nuggets' 109-107 loss to the New York Knicks on Wednesday night.

"We're going to talk further (today)," he said. "It was just kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision. It happened quick. . . . I was expecting to play. I was taped and everything and then the doc came in and looked at me and told me I needed (a magnetic resonance imaging exam)."

Arthroscopic knee surgery is common among athletes and typically requires a recovery of about two to four weeks.

One Nuggets player said he expects Martin to miss more than a month because doctors might be concerned that an early return could affect Martin's left knee.

Martin missed 26 games last season in the wake of microfracture surgery.

"I grabbed him at halftime and said, 'Are you ever going to have any good luck?' " Nuggets coach George Karl said.

The response? Silence. At least until after the game.

"Gotta get it done," Martin said. "Gotta get it cleaned out and whatnot. I'm frustrated. I don't know what to say, man. I worked my (butt) off, and now I have to go through another one like this. . . . I ain't optimistic about surgeries."

Pain-free for the first two games of the season, Martin averaged 9.5 points and 10 rebounds.

He was replaced in the starting lineup by Eduardo Najera, who scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds in 25 minutes.

Najera is one of nine big men the Nuggets have stockpiled on their roster. Reggie Evans, Linas Kleiza, Nene, Jamal Sampson and Joe Smith are reserves Karl can turn to as Denver tries to fill the void.

"It's an unfortunate situation that you hate to see a teammate go through, but at the same time, this is where the depth helps," Smith said.

Evans, who signed a five-year, $23 million contract in September, has yet to appear in any of the Nuggets' four games this season.

He is one of the team's best rebounders and is doing his best to stay patient while sitting on the bench.

"It gets harder, especially when you lose," Evans said. "I just have to stay positive. . . . That's all I can do. (Martin's injury) might make a difference; it might not make a difference. Just keep my head up and keep working hard."