Bulls' Taj Gibson Has Left Ankle Surgery, Expected To Miss 4 Months
(CBS) Bulls forward Taj Gibson underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle Tuesday and is expected to miss four months, the team said Friday.
The surgery was performed by foot specialist Dr. David Porter in Indianapolis and went as expected, the team said. The timeline for Gibson has him returning to full basketball activities just before the start of the regular season.
The procedure came after an injury-plagued 2014-'15 season for the 29-year-old Gibson, who played in 62 of 82 regular-season games but often did so hobbled. Gibson's battled ankle injuries throughout his career, and he exacerbated the problem when he landed awkwardly on an opposing player in a Nov. 21 loss at Portland. He then missed the next six games.
Gibson then re-injured his left ankle on Feb. 27 at Minnesota and missed the next 10 games. He also played through a grade 2 ligament tear in his left hand that first hampered him in January after former coach Tom Thibodeau asked him to play through the pain for the short-handed Bulls.
"He always says that to me every day – 'You're from Brooklyn, you're tough,'" Gibson said on Feb. 21 after revealing the hand injury. "I just feed off what he preaches to me. I just try to be a no-excuse kind of guy and do my job.
Gibson averaged 10.3 points and 6.4 rebounds this past season while shooting 50 percent.