Andre Roberson suffers gruesome injury, out for the season

In terrible Colorado Buffaloes news, Andre Roberson’s season is over and his career may be in jeopardy after an awful injury.

In Oklahoma City’s game on Saturday, Roberson suffered what has been reported by ESPN as a ruptured patellar tendon in his left knee. The injury occurred when Roberson cut down the baseline to catch a lob from Russell Westbrook, but as he jumped, his left leg appeared to give out and he crashed to the floor. (You can see the video here, though it is extremely difficult to watch.) He was treated on the floor and stretchered off the court with an air cast on his left leg.

Roberson’s injury will keep him out for the rest of the season at the very least. His injury is one of the most traumatic a player can suffer. There is at least one study that shows players coming patellar tendon surgery are less healthy and less productive than players coming off turn ACLs or Achilles tendon ruptures. The patellar tendon is an extremely important part of the knee because it connects the shin to the knee cap and is the control for flexibility and strength.

This injury is what effectively ended the careers of Victor Cruz of the New York Giants and Damon Stoudamire of the Memphis Grizzlies. It is possible to recover fully, especially at Roberson’s relatively young age of 26. Some examples of a successful recovery would be Cedric Ceballos of the Dallas Mavericks and Kelenna Azubuike of the Golden State Warriors.

It will be a long and arduous recovery for Roberson, but if there’s anything Colorado fans know, it’s that he has the work ethic and mental strength to do what it takes to recover. Nothing can keep Roberson off the floor for long. Hopefully when he’s back, he will the be the same player that is one of the elite defenders in the NBA.