I just heard on NBA TV Brandon Roy has retired because of knee-related issues. I'm not sure Chris Paul's knee problems are as serious as Roy's, but that could foreshadow the unlikeliness of Paul's brittleness. I love Chris Paul and don't doubt his talent, but I rather the Celtics not become the Portland Trailblazers part 2
Last season he missed 45 games because of a torn cartilage.
And reportedly (NOLA.com):
"Noted orthopedist Dr. James Andrews, unable to sew the damaged piece of cartilage, cut it away instead
There’s the prospect of less cushioning cartilage between the bones, making it possible for some bone-on-bone wear and tear in the knee"
Its bound to happen that he'll miss 30 or so games and not able to hold up. And think of the long term effect of that problem and giving him a long term contract
CP3s injury is completely different from Roys injury due to the extent of the damage (if as they reported). Brandon Roy has NO cartilage left between his knees. CP3 only had a piece of the cartilage removed. That means that CP3 should NOT have any bone on bone contact (which is the main issue with Roy. CP3s injury is extremely common. Eric bledsoe of the clippers just had the same surgery. Our own Paul Pierce probably had the same surgery in 2008. I had the same thing about 18 months ago. There's no reason CP3 (or Paul Pierce, or Eric Bledsoe) wont continue to play at 100% of their pre-surgery norm.
There are plenty of articles on the web about CP3's knee and most of them that I've seen have said that he might have bone on bone issues, some of the others talked about how he's changed his style of play because of his knee. And PP missed a few weeks with his surgery, that should tell you a little about the relative severity of those injuries.
No articles put by cp3, his agent, his Doctor, or the hornets indicate CP3s knee having bone on bone issues. Actually they said those were "bizarre rumors". Most (if not all) of the articles talking about CP3s injury being severe, were written within the context of reasons not to trade for cp3 (many on celtic sites). They picked and chose which quotes to use, and twisted them to serve that end.
The time taken off, is as much a result of the aim of the surgery as the extent of the injury. Brandon Bass my have torn his meniscus last year, but missed very little time, because they opted to let it heal without surgery. PP likely tore his, and reports indicate that they simply cleaned out any loose debris from the tear. In CP3s case, they attempted first to sew it back together without removing it. This is much less common, but a more involved surgery. That doesnt mean that the injury itself was any different, but that they tried to address it differently.
In each case (as with Ray Allen in 2003 and I believe 2007), the injury was a torn meniscus. It is NOT a major injury unless it is on Roys level where there is no longer cartilage left. That is not the situation with CP3 (or PP, Bass, or Allen).