Dallas Mavericks Center Nerlens Noel Undergoes Surgery to Repair Torn Ligament in Left Thumb, Out Indefinitely
Dallas Mavericks center Nerlens Noel's miserable season just took a turn for the worst recently due to a torn ligament in his left thumb that required surgery.
"He's got some kind of a torn ligament that is just effecting his ability to catch the ball and things like that," Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle said before their game against the Boston Celtics last Wednesday, via ESPN.
Noel went under the knife on Friday and he's going to be out indefinitely while he recovers.
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Dr. Steven Maschke performed the surgery on his left thumb at the Cleveland Clinic and he's expected to make a full recovery.
Noel was supposed to play a key role after he signed a one-year, $4.1-million qualifying offer with the team in the offseason, but he was already out of the rotation by November.
The former sixth overall pick has already received a handful of "did not play-coach's decision" (DNP-CD) and he has only appeared in 18 games thus far. Noel is averaging 4.0 points and 4.1 rebounds in under 13 minutes per game this season. He's also shooting 52.8 percent from the floor and 84.2 percent from the free-throw line.
The former University of Kentucky star got mixed up in a strange controversy earlier this month when he visited the Mavericks' media dining area to grab a hot dog at halftime during a game between the Dallas and the Los Angeles Clippers.
Noel didn't play, but it was still unusual for a player to do that and a lot of people thought he was trying to make a statement after he was bench. However, he would explain that he was hungry.
The center probably won't play much this season, but coach Carlisle was quick to remind everyone that he's still a member of the team.
"He's been very professional, with the exception of the hot dog incident the other night, which we all had fun with," Carlisle said of Noel, according to ESPN.
"That's over with now. And he realized that was a mistake. And my No. 1 thing — and our No. 1 thing as a team, franchise — is just getting him 100 percent healthy, and let's go from here," he continued.
