Inside the spacious conference room, Joseph, the Director of Orthopedics at Saint Luke Hospital, was also present.
Chen Yu flipped through the various test results.
In truth, Chen Yu already knew what the results would show.
The ligant, niscus, and cartilage were the sa as before. There was so recovery—after all, Chen Yu’s massages and Acupuncture had their technical benefits—but it was minimal.
Setting down the docunts, Chen Yu t Anfernee’s expectant gaze and said, "I’m sorry, Anfernee. Your recovery isn’t going well."
The smile on Hardaway’s face instantly froze.
Chen Yu continued, "I believe that, given your current condition, the best option is still surgery."
Hardaway’s eyes widened, filled with disappointnt and even despair.
Everyone else in the room fell silent.
Chen Yu scanned the room. He was perfectly aware that everyone present already knew Hardaway’s situation.
Besides surgery, there was simply no other choice.
Brian, for his part, had probably already prepared for Hardaway to be out for the season.
As for Erson and Joseph, they were both senior doctors. They knew very well that for a condition like Hardaway’s, conservative treatnt was useless.
Even Boston was perfectly aware of the situation.
"Chen, you lied to !" Hardaway roared, his voice thick with emotion. "You told conservative treatnt was an option! Why is this the result now? You were able to cure Hill, so why not ?"
Chen Yu didn’t look away, eting Hardaway’s gaze directly.
As they stared at each other, Hardaway lost his montum. He slumped back into his seat and said in a trembling voice, "Chen, I trust you. I really do. You cured Hill, and he’s so healthy now. Is there really no other way? I really don’t want surgery."
Hill’s return had sent shockwaves through the entire league.
Just last night, in Hill’s third ga back, the Magic had faced the Spurs at ho.
Although the Spurs had six players scoring in double digits, Hill, who played nearly the entire ga, recorded a triple-double with 24 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists. He led his team in a battle against the Spurs down to the final mont, losing by a narrow margin of 3 points.
The sheer heat of Hill’s performance left everyone stunned.
Chen Yu said, "Anfernee, since you trust this much, let be the one to perform this surgery. Next season, I’ll have you back on the court, just as healthy as Hill."
Hardaway still shook his head, then stood up and walked out.
Boston imdiately followed, but not before giving Chen Yu a aningful look as he passed.
The two of them went outside the conference room.
Boston let out a long breath. "Chen, you should prepare for the surgery. Trust , he’ll agree to it."
After a pause, Boston sighed again. "Because he has no other choice."
Chen Yu patted Boston’s arm. "Trust . Next season, I’ll give you back a healthy Penny."
"I believe you." Boston chuckled, then added, "Chen, your initial strategy was right. If you hadn’t let him see Hill’s condition after his coback, he never would have accepted reality. And as for his surgery, very few people would be confident enough to perform it, but you can. You’ve already worked a miracle with Hill."
With that said, he hurried off after Hardaway.
Chen Yu returned to the conference room.
The atmosphere was still heavy.
Brian cleared his throat and asked, "Chen, if you perform the surgery, to what extent can Anfernee recover by next season?"
Brian was, of course, well aware of Hardaway’s condition. All that talk about conservative treatnt was just to placate him.
He understood now. Chen Yu had probably intended from the start to use conservative treatnt to stabilize Hardaway emotionally before finding a way to convince him to have the surgery.
The key was that he didn’t dare entrust this surgery to Erson. If he did, the most likely outco was another Gugliotta.
But then there was Chen Yu. Hill’s recovery had been just too good.
Erson also looked at Chen Yu. He wasn’t about to question Chen Yu the way Billings might have.
’If it were , I’d also say surgery was necessary. Besides, I’m not at all confident I could perform this operation. A torn ligant, a torn niscus, and a cartilage removal on top of that... Not even a god could fix that.’
’Plus, I’m planning to resign anyway, so I might as well just let Chen Yu handle it.’
Chen Yu stood up, walked to the whiteboard, and quickly sketched a simple diagram of the knee. He then said, "I want to use a single open surgery to resolve all the issues in his knee. On one hand, to repair the torn anterior cruciate ligant and the left niscus. On the other hand, for the cartilage that was removed, I plan to use microfracture surgery to reconstruct it."
"With a 10-month recovery period, he can make it back for next season. As for the extent of his recovery, I can only say conservatively that he should regain about ninety percent of his peak functionality."
’No matter how good the repair, it’s never as good as the original.’
’Even with the System, I can’t over-promise. A conservative estimate of ninety percent recovery should be safe.’
"Ninety percent?"
Brian’s eyes lit up.
And ninety percent of his peak, at that.
Besides, in his last healthy season with the Magic, the ’95-’96 season, Hardaway averaged 21.7 points and 7.1 assists. Was that even his peak?
Not by a long shot!
That was only his third year in the league. He was only 25 years old! He still had so much room to grow.
In other words, Hardaway was struck down by injuries before he even reached his peak, and he’d been struggling with them for years.
Brian wasn’t even asking for his true peak. If Hardaway could get back ninety percent of his ability from that year, he’d be smiling in his sleep.
"Chen, I believe in your diagnosis."
After Hardaway got injured, they had consulted so many doctors, and not a single one had dared to say what Chen Yu just did.
And based on Hill’s recovery alone, Brian trusted Chen Yu’s judgnt.
Erson and Joseph naturally didn’t say much, but they were both wondering inwardly, ’With an injury like Hardaway’s, can he really regain ninety percent of his functionality?’
After all, the injury was just too severe.
"Joseph." Chen Yu looked at Joseph. "I’d like to perform this surgery at your hospital. I’d also like to ask you to be my assistant. Would you be willing?"
Joseph hesitated for a mont. "Performing it at our hospital is no problem, of course. As for being your assistant... I’m getting older. I’m afraid I wouldn’t be up to it."
Hardaway was no ordinary patient. If sothing went wrong during the surgery, even as an assistant, Joseph’s reputation would be damaged.
"No problem."
Chen Yu didn’t insist. Another person ca to his mind: Wash.
’Inviting her to fly in for a surgery shouldn’t be an issue.’
After the discussion ended, Brian didn’t leave right away. Instead, he invited Chen Yu to have a word in private.
"Chen, Erson is planning to resign, and we’re in need of a team doctor. I know you’re preparing to take a position at the league’s new player health managent departnt, but you should have ti to also serve as a team doctor for one of the teams, right?"
It was very common for a renowned expert to hold multiple positions.
Chen Yu looked at Brian in surprise.
’What a coincidence. I was just wondering how I could talk to Brian about getting a position on the Suns’ dical team.’
Chen Yu had already spoken with Stern about wanting to locate the office for this player health managent departnt in Phoenix.
It was mostly routine review work, so it didn’t necessarily have to be at the NBA Headquarters.
The main reason was for his own convenience. After all, he would have to stay in Phoenix for the next year to work closely with Hardaway.
"Of course." Chen Yu smiled and extended his hand.
Brian quickly shook it, his gloomy mood finally easing a bit. He then said imdiately, "Chen, in that case, if it’s convenient, could you re-diagnose another player for us?"
Brian really didn’t want another Gugliotta on his hands.
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