Eric Gordon won’t have surgery, will miss 4-6 weeks

Gordon started experiencing knee pain in training camp and ended up deciding to sit out indefinitely. There was a report that he could need microfracture surgery, but instead chose to rehab the injury in Los Angeles. He rejoined the team last week and predicted that he would ultimately return to the lineup before the new year.

Gordon, who spent the past month rehabbing in Los Angeles, played in only nine games for New Orleans last season after having arthroscopic knee surgery. His nagging ailments this season stemmed from a patella tendon disorder and bone bruises, according to the report.

Gordon has missed 23 games to date during the 2012-13 season, as a right knee injury has kept him sidelined. After missing Hornets training camp and the preseason, Gordon chose rest and rehab over microfracture surgery and was expected to be out four to six weeks.

In his fifth season out of Indiana, Gordon carries career averages of 18.2 points, 3.3 assists, and 2.7 rebounds per game while shooting 45.2%. The Hornets are 5-18 this season in his absence.

Gordon sought an opinion from a knee specialist in Chicago, who told him that no surgery would be required and that additional rehabilitation would allow him to return in four to six weeks. This would mark the second year in a row that Gordon has opted not to have microfracture surgery. He missed all but nine games of the 2011-2012 season, but chose to have arthroscopic surgery over the more involved microfracture procedure.

An MRI earlier in the week revealed damage to Gordon’s right knee, though it was unclear the extent of that damage. On Thursday, Gordon said that it was not structural:

He is expected to seek insight from a knee specialist, and from there formulate a plan that may include surgery. It may turn out not to be necessary, if rest and rehabilitation will deal with the injury on an acceptable time frame.

Gordon missed almost the entirety of the 2011-2012 season with an injury to the same knee. Microfracture surgery was discussed at the time, but Gordon opted for a lesser procedure, having arthroscopic surgery in February.

Additionally, though the situation surrounding Gordon’s injured knee remains “mysterious,” as Berger writes, a source within the league said neither Gordon or his agent have made a trade demand. Officials with the Hornets, according to Berger’s report, say that while further surgery is not definite, it hasn’t been completely taken off the table at the same time.

When pressed about the MRI results, whether they indicated structural damage and what that damage might be, Gordon would not get into specifics, telling The Times-Picayune, “There’s damage. I just have to figure (it) out this weekend.”

Right knee pain kept Gordon out for all of training camp.

Gordon, 23, appeared in just nine games last year during his first season with the Hornets. Gordon averaged 20.6 points per game in limited time.