Basketball - Miami Heat Faces A String Of Players Inj

Miami Heat has had a season long list of injuries. First it was Dwayne Wade who ended up dislocated his left shoulder and now it is Jason Kapono. The only good news for the Heat could be that Wade has started rehabilitating the dislocated shoulder.

Kapono will miss indefinite games after spraining his left ankle. He is NBA’s leading 3 point shooter with 51.3 percent. According to coach Pat Riley, Kapono has been diagnosed with a high left ankle sprain.

Kapono injured himself during a game against Atlanta which the Heat won 88-81. During the game, Kapono jumped to defend a shot by Joe Johnson and landed on teammate James Posey’s foot which caused his ankle to turn inwards. Initial X-rays were negative but Kapono underwent further tests which revealed the severity of the injury and his ankle has been placed in a hard cast.

The team will reevaluate Kapono’s condition after 10 days and during that time, he will miss 6 games. The earliest that Kapono could return would be by March 18, 2007.

This season, the Heat has been plagued by injuries to players. Shaquille O’Neal had a knee surgery while Jason Williams had knee and abdominal problems and this meant that they were gone for long periods of time. Wade ended up dislocating his shoulder in February but did not opt for surgery.

Though O’Neal and Williams have returned, Wade could be still out for many more weeks before deciding whether his shoulder has healed sufficiently to play. With Kapono injured, Riley would now have to choose between Posey, Dorell Wright or Antoine Walker for the starting lineup. One of them would be playing alongside O’Neal, Williams, Eddie Jones and Udonis Haslem.