Rockets’ Sura To Undergo Knee Surgery

On Wednesday, September 28, the Rockets announced that guard Bob Sura will be having surgery to scope out the back part of his right knee on Thursday morning. On Wednesday afternoon, Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson spoke with media to further explain and clarify Sura's condition..

“Well, that’s not the picture I get from the doctors,” Dawson said when referencing Sura’s earlier statements. “I know he hurt his knee last year and he had it cleaned out this summer. I think there’s a small tear in the back, from what the doctors tell me, that we’re going to have taken care of tomorrow. They don’t think it’ll be more than a week, as far as slowing him down, and he’ll be back going at it again.”

The 6’5”, 200-pound Sura averaged 10.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.3 assists in 61 games last season, his first as a Rocket. The ballclub became enamored with Sura’s gritty nature and tough style of play. He provided Houston with a versatile backcourt presence who could penetrate and snare every loose ball that came his way.

“I love the guy,” Dawson said. “If there’s anybody that can come back fast and play again, it’s Bob Sura. He’s a competitor and he’s as tough as it gets. We’ll see what happens but we’re fully expecting him to play and be able to come back.”

Sura also had an operation on the same knee earlier this summer, except it was done on the front part of his knee. Dawson mentioned that this upcoming operation will slow Sura down for approximately a week, and will do little else but slow down the rehab that was still ongoing for the front part of the knee. Sura’s absence left questions about whether the Rockets are strongly pursuing any immediate roster moves, which Dawson answered as well.

“We’re always looking (at roster moves), but he’s been hurt all summer,” Dawson said. “It’s been a little bump in the road. It was the back part of the knee (that proved to be a problem) that we hadn’t anticipated, and I think that’s where the catch is. But we still have Mike James, we still have Moochie Norris. A lot of people might not realize this, but Luther (Head) played point guard in high school, so he’s very comfortable with the ball. So we’ve still got some guards. (David) Wesley can handle (the ball), Derek (Anderson) can handle. We’re still looking but we’re not going to just jump and do something because we’ve known about this for a long time.”

Dawson emphasized the point that the Rockets had been aware of Sura’s situation for quite some time. Recent occurrences were hardly unexpected. The organization had actually been aware of the issues with the back part of Sura’s knee for more than two weeks.

“He knows his knee better than anybody,” Dawson said. “But I know what a competitor he is. Let’s get the back part (of his knee) looked at, and then we’ll go from there. If there’s anybody in this league who can play when the going gets tough, it’s him. I’m optimistic about it because I know how tough he is and from what the doctors say, he still has some miles left in that knee.”