The Washington Wizards current injury situation is one of the worst in the league, as they currently have six players dealing with injuries that have caused them to miss time. Drew Gooden is one of those players, as he has been in and out of the lineup with back and calf injuries. Gooden's calf injury has been considered serious all along, as he has missed a lot of time, but now it appears he might have a tear in the calf, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
Gooden started off the season healthy and in the rotation, but it didn't take long for his calf to start bothering him. Gooden has played in just seven games this season, as he has dealt with the injury, and he has continued to try to come back. Gooden hadn't played since Nov. 17 when he appeared in a game on Friday for the Wizards, but he lasted just four minutes in that game before he was ruled out for the rest of the game.
Gooden finally had an MRI on the calf to see what the issue was, and it reportedly revealed a strain and slight tear. There has been no timetable given to Gooden, but given the severity of the injury it seems as though he will miss a significant amount of time. Typically an injury to someone like Gooden wouldn't be a big deal, but for the Wizards right now it is because they are extremely thin, especially in the frontcourt.
Kris Humphries and Marcin Gortat are currently the only big men the Wizards have healthy, as DeJuan Blair is dealing with a knee injury and Nene is also dealing with a calf injury. To combat the lack of depth in the frontcourt, head coach Randy Wittman has been using Jared Dudley (6-foot-7) at power forward regularly and sometimes even at center because he really doesn't have much of a choice.
Gooden was a key contributor for the Wizards last season when he averaged 5.4 points and 4.4 rebounds in 16.9 minutes, but so far this season he has only played 11.6 minutes per game, and the injuries have really hurt him. The good news for Gooden is now that he has a diagnosis he won't keep trying to come back, making the injury worse. The calf should now fully heal, and when he does return he should be at full strength and good to go.
