The mystery surrounding Jorge Garbajosa's left leg took another turn last night. The Toronto Raptors forward was placed on the inactive list after scheduled diagnostic tests in Toronto on Saturday revealed an unspecified change in his condition.
"[Doctors] saw some things that they wanted to evaluate further," said Raptors spokesman Jim Labumbard before last night's game against the Dallas Mavericks. "So at this point we figured it was best he didn't practise or play."
No one knows how long it will be until Garbajosa is cleared to come back.
The Spanish forward broke his left leg and ankle during a game against the Boston Celtics on March 26. He had surgery and screws were inserted in his leg. Garbajosa returned to the court ahead of schedule and played for Spain at the European championships in September, even though the Raptors' medical staff were of the opinion that he needed further surgery because the fracture hadn't completely healed.
The club only approved Garbajosa's participation when the Spanish basketball federation paid a reported $1-million (U.S.) to insure the roughly $8-million remaining on Garbajosa's contract.
The insurance policy expires Nov. 30, but Garbajosa played down any suggestion the club might be trying to safeguard its interests before it resumes full responsibility for the contract.
Garbajosa has steadfastly argued that he's feeling no symptoms from his injury. His playing time and performance have been sporadic this season but he played a season-high 24 minutes on Friday night and was in the lineup, though did not play, on Sunday.
Yesterday morning at the Raptors' shootaround Garbajosa was running and dunking — rare for him in any circumstance.
"That is the best proof about how I feel. I found out after practice when we had lunch together, but you saw this morning, I didn't have problems to run and dunk," he said. "Right now I don't have any problem, but they say something is different. I don't know if there is an injury. I just know that I cannot play today and I am a little bit upset about it.
"I'm upset because I cannot play. I would like to help my teammates play this game and all the games. The thing I love the most is to play basketball and I cannot do it for at least tonight and tomorrow night."
